iiiliiiiiiiaiiM^^^^^ 


THE  RELIGION 
OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 


Most  Rev.  ALEXANDER  LE  ROY 

SUPERIOR    GENERAL    OF    THE    FATHERS    OF    THE    HOLY    GHOST 


TRANSLATED  BY 

Rev.  NEWTON  THOMPSON 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1922 

All  rights  reserved 


FEINTED   IN    THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA 


Copyright,  1922, 
By  the  MAOMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  printed.    Published  November,  1922. 


Press  of 

J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


ArTHURUS  J.    SCAKLAX,    S.T.D. 

Censor  Lihrorvmi 

aimprimatur 

1^     Patritius  J.  Hayes,  D.D. 

Archiepiscopus  Neo-Eboraci 

New  York,  September  20th,  1922. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

My  career  as  an  African  missionary,  interrupted  by  a  short 
sojourn  in  Europe  and  another  in  India,  began  in  1877  on 
the  eastern  coast.  I  brought  with  me  all  the  current  ideas  as 
to  the  black  populations:  fetichist  peoples,  without  religion 
or  morality,  with  no  family  life,  stupidly  adoring  animals, 
trees,  and  stones. 

It  was  the  period  when  by  the  gate  of  the  Zanzibar  coast 
their  ^'mysterious  continent"  was  opened,  with  Livingstone, 
Samuel  Baker,  Speke,  Grant,  Cameron,  Stanley,  Emin-Pacha, 
and  Victor  Giraud  as  the  first  explorers  of  the  International 
African  Association,  and  the  heroic  pioneers  of  the  Catholic 
and  Protestant  missions.  All  set  out  from  Bagamoyo  or  passed 
through  it.  There  also,  from  the  distant  interior,  caravans 
arrived  daily  after  the  rainy  season  with  500,  1000,  or  2000 
men.  These  brought  to  the  coast  ivory,  copal,  skins,  and  slaves, 
especially  the  last  named,  showing  the  attentive  observer  such 
varied  types  of  that  strange  world,  that  on  this  shore,  so  little 
known  to  the  white  man,  in  the  course  of  a  year  he  might  see 
filing  before  him  representatives  of  all  the  Bantu  tribes,  from 
the  Ba-ganda  of  the  Victoria  Nyanza  to  the  Wa-yao  of  the 
ISTyassa,  the  Ma-nywema  of  Upper  Congo,  and  the  distant  inhab- 
itants of  Katanga.  Bagamoyo  was,  therefore,  an  incomparable 
field  of  observation. 

Moreover,  until  1893  the  functions  entrusted  to  me  obliged 
me  to  make  numerous  journeys  with  more  or  less  prolonged 
sojourns  from  Somaliland  to  Mozambique,  from  the  Tana  to 
the  superb  masses  of  the  Kilimanjaro,  from  the  islands  of 
Zanzibar,  Pemba,  and  Mombasa  to  the  Massai  plains  and  the 
interesting  mountains  of  Taita,  Pare,  E^gniru,  Usambara,  and 
Uruguru. 

In  1893  I  had  to  pass  to  Gabon  on  the  opposite  coast  where, 
under  cover  of  the  gTcat  equatorial  forest  or  along  the  shores 
of  rivers  and  lakes  or  on  the  sunny  plains,  there  mingled  other 


viii  AUTHOR^S  PEEFACE 

black  populations,  alike  in  many  respects  but  so  different  in 
appearance,  babits,  and  language  as  to  offer  a  curious  field  for 
study. 

In  this  world  thus  revealed  to  me,  a  world  tbat  may  be  con- 
sidered primitive  in  many  of  its  characteristics,  everything  was 
an  object  of  observation  and  study  for  me;  and  I  can  truly  say 
that,  during  the  twenty  years  I  lived  there,  scarcely  a  single 
day  passed  without  bringing  me  some  new  element  of  instruc- 
tion, correcting  an  idea,  clearing  up  a  doubt,  modifying  an 
hypothesis,  furnishing  an  explanation,  verifying  a  fact,  disclos- 
ing a  clue,  removing  an  error,  or  revealing  a  new  discovery. 

How  often  these  observations,  made  and  controlled  on  the 
spot,  were  found  to  disagree  with  the  generalizations  of  well- 
known  authors  who  are  cited  as  oracles,  whom  one  dare  not 
contradict  and  who,  with  theories  to  sustain,  have,  perhaps 
unconsciously,  too  often  solicited  premature  testimony  in  their 
favor!  How  often  I  regretted  having  no  book  to  guide  me! 
Since  none  existed,  how  often  I  desired  later  on  to  begin  this 
study  on  the  religion  of  the  primitives  so  as  thereby  to  aid 
other  missionaries  by  enlightening  them  in  their  apostolate, 
helping  them  avoid  serious  misunderstandings,  and  cooperating 
to  this  extent  in  their  admirable  task ! 

If  there  be  an  elementary  principle  for  every  one  proposing 
to  lead  his  fellow-men  to  his  own  faith,  it  is  first  of  all  to  know 
what  they  believe.  There  may  be  some  points  of  contact  where 
the  beliefs  of  both  will  meet  and  perhaps,  instead  of  arguing 
in  endless  and  always  somewhat  irritating  controversy,  it  will 
suffice  to  explain  one's  self  in  order  to  be  accepted. 

But  there  is  a  still  better  reason.  The  study  of  the  beliefs 
of  these  primitive  populations  is  in  itself  extremely  inter- 
esting, not  only  because  it  forever  nourishes  the  curiosity  of 
those  who  like  the  exotic,  not  only  because  it  is  a  new  and 
attractive  exploration  into  the  depths  of  the  human  soul,  not 
only  because  it  is  one  of  the  necessary  elements  of  ethnography, 
history,  and  philosophy,  but  also  and  especially  because  it  reveals 
such  astonishing  points  of  comparison  with  the  highest  religions 
that  we  may  indict  the  theologian  unacquainted  with  it  as 
ignorant  of  a  part  of  theology. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  ix 

What  are  these  resemblances,  how  are  they  to  be  explained, 
and  what  do  they  prove  ? 

While  our  Christian  scholars  appeared  uninterested  in  these 
questions,  others  took  hold  of  them  and  soon  found  means  of 
profiting  thereby.  Imagine  them,  in  their  first  enthusiasm, 
announcing  to  us  that,  being  more  fortunate,  more  competent, 
more  able  (they  might  have  added,  better  supported)  than 
Voltaire  and  the  encyclopedists  of  the  eighteenth  century,  they 
have  at  last  found  the  key  to  the  ''religious  phenomenon"  and 
all  that  relates  to  it.  The  gospel  of  this  new  revelation  has 
been  taught  for  a  long  time  in  the  universities  of  our  capitals. 
They  have  been  asked  to  disseminate  their  doctrine,  and  appar- 
ently the  moment  has  come  for  putting  this  teaching  into  the 
form  of  a  catechism,  placing  it  in  the  program  of  our  primary 
schools,  and  imposing  it  on  the  minds  of  children,  thus  forcing 
positive  religions  to  be  replaced  by  non-religion  or  "the  relig- 
ion," i.e.,  ''the  aspiration  toward  the  ideal  and  the  unlimited 
perfection  of  man  apart  from  all  supernatural  basis  and 
sanction." 

The  Third  International  Congress  of  the  History  of  Eeligions, 
held  in  Oxford  (1908),  showed  that  the  new  evangels  were 
far  from  being  in  accord.  This  was  so  evident  that  some  disre- 
spectful journalists,  in  reporting  its  sessions,  called  it  a  "new 
Tower  of  Babel." 

However,  it  is  advisable  to  examine  the  assertions  of  these 
scholars  and  investigate  the  soundness  of  their  great  hopes. 

The  eminent  rector  of  the  Institut  Catholique  of  Paris, 
Monsignor  Baudrillart,  encouraged  by  Pius  X  and  aided  by 
the  intelligent  and  generous  initiative  of  others,  decided  that 
Catholic  science  should  have  its  word  to  say  in  these  matters; 
to  meet  the  new  needs  he  founded  a  new  professorship:  the 
chair  of  the  history  of  religions.  The  following  study  consti- 
tuted the  inaugural  lectures  in  that  course. 

Suddenly  called  to  realize  an  idea  long  cherished  in  my  mind, 
without  having  had  time  and  means  for  a  suitable  immediate 
preparation,  I  feel  how  much  I  need  the  reader's  indulgence. 
Already  my  hearers  have  given  me  kind  and  touching  proofs 
of  that  indulgence ;  I  trust  my  readers  will  do  the  same. 


X  AUTHOR'S  PEEFACE 

I  dedicate  these  pages  first  of  all  to  the  numeroiis  Christian 
missionaries  scattered  among  the  primitive  peoples  still  living. 
If  these  pages  prove  useful  to  them,  I  will  thank  God  for  per- 
mitting me  to  be  thus  associated  in  their  apostolate;  but  I 
hope  these  earnest  workers  will  profit  by  them  especially  to 
complete  them,  perhaps  to  correct  them,  to  work  in  turn  and 
contribute  to  clearing  the  ground  where,  as  I  believe,  I  have 
recognized  the  very  foundations  of  that  religion  to  whose 
service  they,  choosing  the  better  part,  are  devoting  their  lives. 

Will  theologians,  ethnologists,  and  Christians  desirous  of 
enlightening  their  faith,  find  here  some  new  data,  explanations, 
and  solutions?     I  venture  the  hope. 

And  lastly,  among  those  doubting  spirits  looking  for  the 
truth,  not  with  the  preoccupation  of  surprising  Christianity  at 
fault — for  such  are  usually  rebellious  to  all  demonstration — 
but  with  sincere  and  humble  desire  to  find  the  truth  and  follow 
it,  are  there  some  to  whom  these  studies  will  bring  light  ?  I 
wish  so,  and  this,  I  confess,  w^ould  be  my  best  reward. 


CONTENTS 


pagb 


CHAPTER 

I.    The  Science  of  the  History  of  Eeligioins  Ap- 
plied TO  THE  Primitives 1 

II.     The  Primitive  in  the  Presence  of  Nature     .  38 

III.  The  Primitive  and  the  Family 62 

IV.  Belief 90 

V.     Morality 13^ 

VI.    Worship        l'?3 

VII.    Magic ^16 

VIII.     Comparison  of  the  Eeligions  of  the  Primitives  238 

IX.     Conclusions 282 


THE  RELIGION 
OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS 
APPLIED  TO  THE  PRIMITIVES 

I.  The  Science  of  the  History  of  Religions.  Its  aim:  to  verify  and 
explain  the  "religious  phenomenon."  Its  precursors  and  founders. 
The  discoveries  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  England,  Germany, 
and  France.  For  and  against  Christianity. 
II.  Its  Actual  Tendencies.  1.  Prejudice  in  the  matter  of  religion.  The 
denial  of  the  supernatural.  Appeal  to  evolution.  The  new  method. 
2.  Incompetence:   conventional  savages;  theories  and  illusions. 

III.  Our    Method.     Not    a    priori.     On    the    adversaries'    ground.     The 

"Primitives" :   Negrillos  and  Bantus.     The  value  of  their  testimony. 
Sources  of  information. 

IV.  Religion  and  Magic.     1.  Definition  of  religion.     Its  elements:  belief, 

morality,  worship.     2.  Superstition,  mythology,  and  magic. 
V.    Plan  and  Spirit  of  This  Study. 

The  religions  question  is  either  wholly  nnworthy  of  consid- 
eration or  it  is  the  first  of  all  those  problems  that  man  must 
face  in  this  world. 

It  is  meaningless  if  it  have  no  objective  validity.  But  how, 
in  such  event,  can  we  account  for  the  real,  enduring,  universal 
presence  of  those  strange  manifestations  of  man's  beliefs,  appar- 
ently so  unnecessary  for  the  development  of  his  physical,  intel- 
lectual, even,  we  are  assured,  of  his  moral  life?  Why  these 
temples;  some  modest,  like  the  little  fetich-hut  of  the  African 
forests,  others  splendid  edifices,  such  as  those  erected  by  the 
ancient  civilizations  of  the  Euphrates  and  Nile  valleys,  in  the 
Khmer  country,  in  India,  China,  Japan,  Europe,  and  America  ? 
Why  these  ceremonies,  prayers,  sacrifices,  priesthoods?  Why 
that  extraordinary  production  of  literary  works,  inscriptions, 
rituals,  hymns,  poems,  and — at  the  very  hour  when  they  tell 

1 


2  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

us  all  religion  is  disappearing — why  so  many  books,  reviews, 
memoirs,  articles,  lectures,  and  discussions?  Above  all,  why 
that  faith,  often  consecrated  by  martyrdom  and  strong  enough 
to  resist  persecution,  trickery,  jealousy,  hatred,  injustice,  and 
hostile  legislation?  In  fine,  why  do  we  find  religion  every- 
where, among  all  peoples,  in  all  times  ? 

A  strange  thing!  Behold  a  conception  that  corresponds  to 
nothing  and  yet  is  universal,  outliving  everything  else.  Destroy 
it?  The  more  you  strive  to  rid  yourself  of  it,  the  more  it 
declares  itself  a  living  reality  and,  like  an  indestructible  obses- 
sion, forces  itself  on  the  attention  of  humanity  with  a  power 
that  can  no  more  be  overcome  than  can  the  voice  of  conscience. 

I.     The  Science  of  the  History  of  Religions 
Its  Aim;  Its  Precursors;  Its  Founders 

Perhaps  you  have  said  to  yourself:  If  we  were  to  study  one 
by  one  the  different  forms  of  religion  to  which  man  has  been 
attached,  if  we  sought  out  their  relations  one  to  another,  if  we 
discovered  the  reasons  for  their  existence,  and  especially  if 
we  could  trace  them  back  to  their  origin,  then  perhaps,  by  the 
study  and  methodical  criticism  of  beliefs  rather  than  by  philo- 
sophical theories,  we  could  throw  new  light  on  the  great  religious 
problem  that  dominates  the  world. 

This  investigation,  and  its  importance  can  fail  to  impress 
neither  friend  nor  foe,  is  the  object  of  the  history  of  religions. 
It  is  a  new  science,  becoming  more  and  more  precisely  separated 
from  ethnography;  it  is  a  science  whose  special  purpose  is  to 
verify  a  universal  fact,  ancient  as  man  himself,  characteristic 
of  human  nature  and,  despite  the  predictions  of  some  doubtful 
prophets,  apparently  destined  to  disappear  only  with  man 
himself. 

In  former  ages  the  importance  of  religious  questions,  the 
interest  aroused  by  them,  the  diversity  of  beliefs  and  forms  of 
worship,  even  the  very  origin  of  religions  provoked  numerous 
and  often  remarkable  studies.     These  works,  however,  did  not 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS      3 

embrace,  properly  speaking,  the  history  of  humaiiity's  religions, 
with  the  lessons  and  conclusions  that  can  be  derived  therefrom 
to-day. 

Thus  in  the  thirteenth  century  Roger  Bacon  in  his  Opiis 
Ma  jus  (1266),  in  the  fifteenth  century  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  then 
in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  Daniel  Huet,^ 
Bishop  of  Avranches,  Dr.  John  Spencer  of  Cambridge,  and 
two  Protestant  ministers,  Samuel  Bochart  ^  and  Pierre  Jurieu,^ 
tried  to  present  a  synthesis  of  the  religious  knowledge  of  their 
times.  Later  on,  a  seven  volume  work  with  magnificent  engrav- 
ings, written  by  J.  F.  Bernard  and  Bruzen  de  la  Martiniere 
with  the  collaboration  of  Antoine  Banier,  was  published  by 
Bernard  Picart  under  the  title,  Ceremonies  et  Coutumes 
religieuses  de  tous  les  peujjles  du  monde.^  Still  later  the  spirit 
of  the  age  inspired  different  ^^philosophical''  works  on  the  sub- 
ject, which  are  now  considered  out  of  date.  Such  were  those 
of  Fontenelle,^  Bayle,®  Vico,^  Voltaire,^  J.  J.  Rousseau,*  C. 
de  Brosses,^^  Court  de  Gebelin,^^  Dupuis,^^  Lessing,^^  Kant,^* 
Herder,^^  Creuzer,^^  Benjamin  Constant,^^  Hegel.^^  Auguste 
Comte,  in  his  Cours  de  philosopJiie  positive  (1830-1842),  estab- 
lished a  basis  which  many  still  regard  with  favor.  According 
to  him,  civilization — and  with  it  religion — has  everywhere 
sprung  from  the  meanest  beginnings;  its  different  degrees  are 

*  Demonstratio  evangelioa  ( 1679 ) . 
'  04ographie  sacree  ( 1646 ) . 
^ Histoire  critique  des  dogmes   (1704). 
*The  work  appeared  at  Amsterdam  from  1723  to  1727. 
"  The  history  of  oracles  and  the  cheats  of  the  pagan  priests  (1688). 
'Diet,  historique  et  critique.     2  vols.    (1695-1697). 
^  Scienza  nueva  ( 1725 ) . 

^ Diet,  philos.    (art.  Religions)-,    Essai  sur   les  mosurs  et   Vaspeet  des 
nations   (1756). 
^Emile  (1762). 

^"Dissertation  sur  le  culte  des  dieux  fetiches  (1760). 
"Le  monde  primitif.     9  vols.    (1775-1784). 
^Origin  of  all  Religious^  Worship  (1872). 
^' ErziehuMg  des  Menschengeschlechts   (1780). 
"  Qeschiohte. 

^^  Outlines  of  a  Philosophy  of  the  History  of  Man   (1800). 
^*  Symholik  und  Mythologie  der  alien  VolJcer.     6  vols.   (1819). 
"De  la  religion  (1824)  ;  Du  polythiisme,  etc.   (1833). 
^Lectures  on  the  Philosophy  of  Religion.     3  vols.  (1895). 


4  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

to  be  found  even  to-day  among  the  different  peoples  of  the 
earth ;  and  any  one  wishing  to  unite  all  these  stages  has  but  to 
study  these  various  peoples  one  after  another. 

But  the  later  discoveries  and  progTess  of  linguistics,  philology, 
and  ethnogxaphy — the  unearthing  of  ancient  civilizations  not 
only  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Chaldea,  but  also  in  Palestine, 
Phoenicia,  Syria,  Greece,  Carthage,  India,  Cambodia,  China, 
and  America,  in  fact  everywhere — the  reconstruction  of  pre- 
historic ages,  based  on  discoveries  in  a  world  seemingly  des- 
tined to  be  forever  unknown  to  us,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
progressive  exploration  of  the  whole  earth,  with  the  different 
nations  that  inhabit  it — all  this,  together  with  new  means  of 
utilizing  countless  documents  (among  which  photography  is 
of  first  importance)  should  enable  investigators  to  make  a  state- 
ment of  religious  data  that  we  would  never  have  been  able  to 
attempt  otherwise  and  to  systematize  them  in  works  of  a 
general  nature. 

''Nobody,"  says  Chantepie  de  la  Saussaye,  "has  a  greater 
claim  to  be  called  the  founder  of  that  science  (i.e.,  of  compar- 
ative religions)  than  F.  Max  Miiller.^^  He  was  the  first  who 
succeeded  in  convincing  a  large  public  of  the  importance  of 
the  subject,  and  was  able  to  persuade  the  best  oriental  scholars 
of  Europe  to  combine  in  a  translation  of  the  Sacred  Books  of 
the  East,  so  that  the  general  public  might  be  able  to  read  them. 
His  call  for  a  study  of  the  science  of  religion  has  been  obeyed 
by  almost  every  nation,  nowhere  more  quickly  than  in  Holland, 
where  Tiele  devoted  his  great  powers  to  this  subject,  and  among 
many  works  published  the  first  compendium,  in  which  he 
gathered  together  the  results  of  the  study  of  the  history  of 
religion. 20  In  Holland  the  science  of  religion  has  now  taken 
its    recognized   place    amongst    academic    studies.      In    Paris 

"This  honor  has  been  claimed  by  others  (Cf.  L.  H.  Jordan,  Comparative 
Religion,  1905,  pp.  161  sqq.)-  The  new  science  grew,  in  fact,  from  1800 
to  1850  under  the  impulse  of  several  founders:  we  have  cited  the  chief  ones. 
Besides  The  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  F.  Max  Miiller  (1823-1900)  wrote 
many  other  works  on  religion:  Comparative  Mythology;  Hibbert  Lectures 
on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion;  Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Re- 
ligion; Selected  Essays;  Natural  Religion;  Physical  Religion;  Chips  from 
a  Cerman  Workshop,  etc. 

^"Outlines  of  the  History  of  Religion  (1905). 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  RELIGIONS      5 

Brussels,  and  lately  in  Rome  also,  chairs  have  been  founded 
for  the  science  of  religion.''  ^^ 

In  Germany  and  especially  in  England  since  Max  Miiller's 
time,  the  science  of  religions  has  given  rise  to  numerous  remark- 
able works,  besides  special  reviews  such  as  The  American  and 
Oriental  Literary  Record,  The  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic 
Society,  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  (Anthropology),  The 
Hihhert  Lectures,  The  Gijford  Lectures,  The  Man,  The  Journal 
of  the  African  Society,  etc.^^ 

'^Chantepie  de  la  Saussaye,  Manual  of  the  Science  of  Religions  (1891). 
The  author  gives  an  abundant  bibliography  of  the  subject.  He  studies 
religions  to  the  exclusion  of  Christianity. 

^'To  mention  especially  the  works  of  Sir  John  Lubbock  {The  Origin  of 
Civilization,  1870);  Edward  B.  Tylor  {Primitive  Culture,  2  vols.,  1872; 
4th  ed.  1903)  ;  Herbert  Spencer  {The  Principles  of  Sociology,  last  ed.,  3 
vols.,  1914)  ;  Andrew  Lang  {Customs  and  Myth,  1884;  Modern  Mythology, 
1897;  Myth,  Ritual,  and  Religion,  2  vols.,  1887;  last  ed.,  1899);  A.  H. 
Keane  {Ethnology,  1901)  ;  James  G.  Frazer  {Golden  Bough,  1890;  last  ed., 
1900)  ;  F.  B.  Jevons  {Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion,  last  ed., 
1904)  ;  J.  and  E.  Caird,  Morris,  W.  Robertson  Smith,  A.  M.  Fairbairn,  etc. 

In  Germany  we  must  cite  R.  Lepsius  {Uber  den  ersten  ^gyptischen 
Gotterkreis,  1851)  ;  W.  Schwarz  {Der  Ursprung  der  Mythologie,  1860)  ;  A. 
Kuhn  {Die  Herahkunf  des  Feuers  und  des  Gottertrankes,  1859)  ;  E.  H. 
Meyer  {Indo-germanische  Mythen,  2  vols.,  1883-1887);  Bastian  (Beitrdge 
zur  vergleichenden  Psychologic,  1865)  ;  Gerland  and  Waitz  {Anthropolo- 
gische  Beitrdge,  1875,  and  Anthropologic  der  'Naturvolker,  1900) ;  0. 
Peschel  {The  Races  of  Man)  ;  F.  Ratzel  {The  History  of  Ma/nkind,  3  vols., 
1898)  ;  Frobenius  {Die  Weltanschauung  der  Naturvolker,  1898)  ;  0  Gruppe 
{Die  griechischen  Eulte  und  Mythen,  1887)  ;  Wundt  {Volkerpsychologie) . 

In  Germany  we  also  find  the  following  reviews:  Zeitschrift  der  deutschen 
morgenldndichen  Gesellschaft ;  Zeitschrift  fiir  Volkerpsyohologie;  Archiv 
fiir  Anthropologic;  Glolus;  Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologie;  Archvo  fiir  Re- 
ligionsunssenschaft,  of  T.  Achelis. 

In  Austria,  Mitteilungen  der  Anthropolo gischen  Gesellschaft  in  Wien. 

In  Italy,  Giomale  della  Societd  Asiatica  italiana.  A.  di  Gubernatis  in 
Italy  echoed  the  English  orientalists. 

In  Belgium,  Count  Goblet  d'Alviella  {Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth 
of  the  Conception  of  God  as  Illustrated  by  Anthropology  and  History,  2d 
ed.,  1897,  being  the  Hibbert  Lectures  for  1891);  and  in  Holland,  G.  A. 
Wilkens  {Het  animisme,  1885)  ;  but  chiefly  C.  P.  Tiele,  Abraham  Kuenen, 
and  Chantepie  de  la  Saussaye  along  with  Monsignor  de  Harlez  represent 
the  science  of  the  history  of  religions.  Note  also  in  Belgium  Le  Mu^Son, 
Etudes  philosophiques,  historiques  et  religieu^es. 

In  the  United  States,  American  Anthropologist,  Anthropological  Papers, 
etc.;  The  American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental  Jou/rnal,  etc.  Mention  should 
also  be  made  of:   J.  W.  Powell  {Mythologie  Philosophy,  1880)  ;  J,  H.  Kini 


6  THE  KBLIGIOlsr  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

FrEtnce  has  done  much  for  general  anthropology,  "the  natural 
history  of  man,"  for  ethnography,  "the  study  of  the  material 
manifestations  of  human  activity,"  ^^  and  for  ethnology,  which, 
according  to  Dr.  Yerneau,  "treats  of  the  formation  and  physical 
characteristics  of  the  different  human  races."  These  recent 
sciences  whose  domain  has  heen  steadily  enlarged,  comprising 
physiology,  sociology,  and  linguistics,  extend  also  to  psychology 
and  thereby  to  religion  and  morality.  Hence  the  "religious 
phenomenon"  has  been  touched  upon,  sometimes  happily  but 
more  often  with  deplorable  ignorance  of  the  subject,  by  such 
ethnographists  as  A.  de  Quatrefages,^*  Broca,  Topinard,^^ 
Letourneau,  and  Deniker;  by  linguists  such  as  E.  L.  Burnouf,^^ 
Breal,  and  Hovelacque;  by  philosophers  and  sociologists, 
notably  A.  Comte,  already  cited,  Guyau,^"^  E.  de  la  Grasserie,^^ 
Durkheim,  H.  Hubert,  and  Mauss;  historians  such  as  A. 
Maury,  ^^  G.  Boissier,^^  and  Fustel  de  Coulanges ;  ^^  oriental- 
ists like  J.  Darmesteter,^^  and  G.  Maspero  f^  erudite  scholars 
like  Solomon  Keinach,^*  or  simple  partisans  such  as  A. 
Lefevre.^^  Unfortunately  the  open  profession  of  atheism  and 
materialism  by  some  of  these  writers,  who  claim  to  represent 
the   "French  school,"  has  sadly  discredited  it  abroad.     The 

{The  Supernatural,  1892)  ;  and  especially  D.  G.  Brinton  {Religions  of 
Primitive  Peoples,  1897). 

In  Switzerland  there  is  Conrad  von  Orelli,  of  Geneva. 

'» Definition  of  Dr.  Hamy. 

**Armand  de  Quatrefages:  Unit4  de  Vespdce  humaine  (1861)  ;  Les  Poly- 
nSsiens  (1866)  ;  The  Natural  History  of  Man  (1875)  ;  The  Human  Species 
(1881);  Homines  fossiles  et  hommes  sauvagesi  (1884);  The  Pygmies 
(1895);  Histoire  ginerale  des  races  humavnes  (1889). 

^L'homme  dans  la  nature  (1891). 

''La  science  des  religions  (1872). 

"  The  Non-religion  of  the  Future,  4th  ed.,  1890. 

'^  Les  religions  comparSes  au  point  de  vue  sociologique  (1899). 

^Histoire  des\  religions  de  la  Ordce  antique  (1857-1859);  Croyances  et 
Ugendes  de  Vantiquit6  (1863). 

*^La  religion  romaine,  4th  ed.,  2  vols.   (1892). 

*^  Aryan  Civilization  (1871). 

''Etudes  iraniennes  (1883). 

**  Histoire  ancienne  des  peuples  de  VOrient. 

"  Cults,  Myths,  and  Religions,  a  partial  translation  of  Cultes,  mythes,  et 
religions,  4  vols. 

"  Religions  et  mythologies  oomparies;  La  religion,  etc. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS      7 

American  scholar  D.  G.  Brinton  observes  this  fact ;  ^^  while  W. 
Schmidt,  writing  in  the  Antliropos,  points  out  the  striking  con- 
trast between  their  frivolous  and  crude  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject and  the  respectful,  dignified  attitude  observed  in  England 
even  by  the  foes  of  religion. ^"^  This  remark  is  well  founded 
but,  to  be  quite  just,  it  should  be  extended  to  materialists  out- 
side of  France;  for  no  French  vrriter  has  surpassed  the  igno- 
rance and  animus  of  the  author  of  The  Riddle  of  the  Universe, 
Ernest  Haeckel. 

However,  the  "science  of  comparative  religions"  ^^  tended 
more  and  more  to  establish  its  own  special  domain.  In  1880 
Albert  Eeville,^^  a  Protestant  professor,  driven  from  the  chair 
of  theology  at  Montauban,  Paris,  and  Geneva,  because  of  the 
radical  nature  of  his  ideas,  was  deemed  to  have  the  necessary 
qualifications  for  inaugurating  the  chair  of  "history  of  relig- 
ions'' at  the  College  de  France.  His  son,  Jean  Reville,  suc- 
ceeded him  and  served  until  his  own  death  in  1908.  Later  on, 
at  the  Ecole  pratique  des  Hautes  Etudes  of  the  Sorbonne,  a 
section  for  "religious  sciences"  was  created  under  Leon 
Marillier. 

This  official  teaching  of  religions  will  undoubtedly  be  extended 
to  schools  outside  of  Paris.  It  is  now  given  at  Lyons,  where 
Virolleaud  has  revealed  to  the  world  that  the  life  of  Christ  is 
but  the  allegory  of  Mithra,  the  sun  god,  put  in  the  form  of 
history  by  the  so-called  "evangelists." 

Even  before  A.  Keville  gave  his  first  lectures  under  the  title 
of  Prolegomena  to  the  History  of  Religions,  A.  Lichten- 
berger  ^^  had  begun  to  publish  an  Encyclopedie  des  sciences 
religieuses  (1876-1882)  in  which,  despite  many  interesting 
articles,    grievous    errors    are    to    be    found.  ^^     The    Musee 

^Religions  of  Primitive  Peoples,  p.  45. 

"  Anthropos,  1908,  I,  p.  148. 

^  In  1872  E.  Burnouf  published  a  work  entitled  La  Science  des  religions. 
According  to  Father  Weiss,  O.  P.  {Le  peril  religieiix),  the  expression  is 
Kenan's. 

•"•Born  at  Dieppe  in  1826. 

♦"Born  at  Strasburg  in  1832,  died  in  1899.  Founder  and  dean  of  the 
Faculty  of  Protestant  Theology  of  Paris. 

"In  the  article  Adoration,  by  J.  Monod:  "The  Virgin  (in  the  Catholic 
Church)  is  the  object  of  a  special  adoration,  called  perpetual  adoration  ( ! ) ." 


8  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Guimet,  first  opened  at  Lyons  (1878),  was  soon  transferred 
to  Paris  (1888).  It  publislaed  its  Annales  and  its  Bihliotheque 
df Etudes  in  which  considerable  material  is  gathered.  Since 
1880  there  has  been  published  a  Revue  de  VHistoire  des  Re- 
ligions under  the  direction  at  first  of  Maurice  Vemes,  who  was 
succeeded  by  Jean  Keville.  The  Annee  Sociologique  of  Durk- 
heim  (founded  in  1897)  devotes  one  study  annually  to  the 
religious  question.  Lastly,  other  reviews,  v.g.,  the  Bulletins  et 
Memoires  de  la  Societe  d^AntJiropologie  de  Paris,  the  AntJiro- 
'pologie,  the  Journal  Asiatique,  the  Revue  des  Etudes  etli- 
nographiques  et  sociologiques  of  A.  van  Gennep,  the  Tour  du 
Monde  J  the  Missions  Catholiques,  La  Nature,  Le  Cosmos,  etc., 
all  contain  articles  in  ever  increasing  number  upon  religious 
matters  of  world-wide  scope.  The  new  science  has  finally  be- 
come fashionable. 

But  most  of  the  names  and  works  just  cited  require  at  once 
a  qualifying  remark :  up  to  the  present  this  '^science"  seems  to 
have  been  conducted  in  a  deliberately  anti-Christian  spirit. 
The  theories  thus  set  forth  could  not  fail  to  provoke  replies. 
On  the  Protestant  side,  the  liberal  school  has  a  simple  and  orig- 
inal way  of  closing  its  opponents'  mouths — by  admitting  their 
conclusions.  The  following  seem  to  belong  to  this  school  in 
different  degrees:  0.  Pfleiderer,^^  H.  Preiss,*^  W.  Bousset,** 
in  Germany;  E.  Caird,^^  F.  J.  Gould,^^  and  F.  K.  Ingram,*'^ 
in  England;  and  in  France,  A.  and  J.  Keville,  A.  Sabatier, 
etc.  Conservatives,  on  the  contrary,  clearly  defend  the  tradi- 
tional positions  in  works  that  are  often  of  great  worth.  W. 
Schmidt,  from  whom  we  gladly  borrow  nearly  all  these  inter- 
esting data,^^   cites   as  worthy  of  note,   J.   A.   H.   Ebrard,^^ 

*^  Die  Geschichte  der  Religion,  1869;  Religions-philosophie,  1878;  Re- 
ligion and  Historic  Faiths,  1907. 

*' Religions-philosophie,  1888. 

**  What  is  Religioiif     1907. 

"  The  Evolution  of  Religion,  3d  ed.,  1899. 

*^  Concise  History  of  Religion  (1893-1897). 

*''  Outline  of  the  History  of  Religion,  1900. 

**W.  Schmidt,  S.V.D.,  L'origine  de  I'idee  de  Dieu,  in  the  Anthropos, 
number  2,  1908. 

*^  Apologetih,  1875. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS      9 

E.  G.  Steude,^^  P.  Gloatz,^!  C.  von  Orelli,^^  g.  W.  von  Walt- 
hofen,^^  M.  Soderblom,^^  S.  H.  Kellog,^^  W.  W.  Peyton,^^ 
L.  Jordan,^"^  and  especially  A.  Lang,^^  of  whom  he  makes  a 
particular  study. 

To  these  names  we  should  add  those  of  several  exegetes  who 
discuss  the  question  from  the  Biblical  point  of  view. 

Catholics  are  likewise  showing  interest  in  the  subject.  In 
Germany,  for  example,  Dr.  W.  Schneider,  Bishop  of  Paderborn, 
published  two  remarkable  works  in  1885  and  1891.^^  The 
work  of  Christian  Pesch,  S.  J.,  on  "God  and  the  gods,"  is  well 
known. ^^  A.  Borchert  ^^  made  a  special  study  of  animism 
and  the  theories  relating  to  it;  H.  Schell  likewise  treated  the 
question  in  his  Apologie  des  Christ entums  (1901).^^  Finally, 
let  us  not  forget  to  note  the  laudable  initiative  of  W.  Schmidt, 
S.V.D.,  in  founding  the  Anthropos  at  Vienna,  an  international 
review  of  ethnology  and  linguistics :  it  contains  numerous  studies 
relative  to  the  religions  of  non-Christian  nations,  and  is  written 
in  German,  French,  English,  Italian,  and  Spanish. 

In  France,  we  may  recall  the  names  of  Daniel  Huet,^^ 
Kollin,^*  Bossuet,^^  Abbe  Bergier,  and  those  who  came  later, 
Chateaubriand,^^  Lamennais,^'^   Bonald,^^  Bonnetty,  and  still 

^Ein  Problem,  1881. 

"*  Spekulative  Theologie,  1883. 

^^  Allgememe  ReligionsgescMchte,  1899. 

^"^  Die  Gottesidee,  1903. 

^Die  Religionen  der  Erde,  1906. 

"  The  Genesis  and  Growth  of  Religion,  1892. 

"  Anthropology  and  the  Evolution  of  Religion. 

"  Comparative  Religion,  Its  Genesis  and  Growth,  1905. 

"«  The  Making  of  Religion,  2(1  ed.,  1902. 

^^  Die  Naturvolker,  Misisverstdndnisse,  Missdeutungen,  Misshandlungen, 
1885;  Die  Religion  der  Afrikanischen  Naturvolker,  1891. 

^  Gott  und  Gotter,  1890;  by  the  same,  Der  Gotteshegriff  in  den  heid- 
nischen  Religionen  des  Altertums  (1886-1888). 

^  Der  AnimAsmus,  1900. 

*^At  Friburg  (Switzerland),  Rev.  Zapletal  has  made  a  particular  study 
of  totemism:  Der  Totemismus. 

^  Demonstratio  evangelica. 

'^  Eistoi/re  ancienne. 

^  Disoours  sur  Vhisfoire  universelle. 

"'  Genie  du  Christianisme. 

''' Essai  sur  V indifference  en  matiere  de  religion. 

"®  Legislation  primitive. 


10  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

more  recently,  Kolirbacher,  whose  History  of  the  Church ^  con- 
tains some  remarkable  views  on  the  subject,  and  Monsignor 
Gaiime  who,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Holy  Ghost,  repeats  the 
thesis  of  St.  Augustine  {De  Civitate  Dei).  We  are  happy  to 
cite  in  addition  such  orientalists  as  Charles  and  Frangois  Lenor- 
mant,^^  Felix  Kobiou,  Kevillout,  de  Rouge,  Scheil,  Monsignor 
de  Harlez,*^^  and  such  exegetes  as  Vigouroux,  Lagrange,"^^  etc. 

Abbe  de  Broglie,  of  the  Institut  Catholique  of  Paris,  pos- 
sessed true  initiative.  His  intellectual  work  still  remains  most 
productive;  one  of  his  friends  and  colleagues  rightly  said  of 
him  ^^that  there  are  few  men  in  our  age  of  investigators,  who 
have  established  so  large  a  number  of  new  and  sane  ideas  in  the 
realm  of  religious  and  moral  sciences."  '^^ 

At  the  Institut  Catholique  of  Paris  in  1879  he  treated  this 
subject  in  lectures  that  were  later  published  under  the  title 
of  Prohlemes  et  Conclusions  de  VHistoire  des  Religions.  After 
setting  forth  the  different  systems  concerning  the  origin  of 
religion,  and  examining  traditional  polytheism.  Buddhism, 
Judaism,  and  Islam,  he  decides  in  favor  of  the  transcendence 
of  Christianity,  asserting  that  its  special  characteristics  pro- 
claim it  without  a  peer  and  that  only  a  superhuman  action  can 
explain  it. 

Later,  and  from  another  point  of  view,  Fernand  l^icolay 
wrote  a  history  of  the  beliefs,  superstitions,  habits,  usages,  and 
customs  of  various  nations,  grouping  them  about  the  Decalogue, 
the    ^'law   of   laws."      After    an    extensive    and    conscientious 

"^  Histoire  anciemie  de  VOrient;  Histoire  des  peuples  orientaux  et  de 
VInde;  Les  'premieres  civilisations;  Les  s\ciences  occultes  en  Asie;  Les 
origines  de  V histoire. 

'"  VSdisme,  Brahmanisme  et  Christianisme. 

"  Etudes  sur  les  religions  semitiques. 

"  C.  Piat,  in  the  preface  of  Religion  et  critique  by  Abbe  de  Broglie.  Be- 
sides this  work  and  his  ProhUmes  et  conclusions  de  Vhistoire  des  religions, 
Abb6  de  Broglie  has  published  a  whole  series  of  articles  or  pamphlets 
referring  to  our  subject:  Religion  de  Zoroastre  et  religion  v4dique;  Le 
Bouddhisme ;  Les  religions  neo-hrahmcmiques  de  VInde;  L'Islamisme;  La 
waie  definition  de  la  religion;  La  vraie  religion;  La  transcendanoe  du 
Christianisme;  Vue  d'en^emUe  de  la  religion  d'Israel;  L'histoire  religieuse 
dUsrael.  Abbe  de  Broglie  was  born  in  Paris  in  1834.  After  having  been 
a  student  at  the  polytechnic  school  and  a  navy  officer,  he  received  holy 
orders  at  the  age  of  thirty-two.     He  was  assassinated  in  1895. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  EELIGIONS    11 

inquiry,  he  concludes  that  "respect  for  science  in  the  realm  of 
its  prudent  and  hence  legitimate  affirmations,  i.e.,  confidence  in 
the  results  of  rational  investigation,  strengthens,  enlightens, 
and  definitely  confirms  the  reasons  of  faith  in  a  decisive  and 
victorious  manner."  "^^ 

Abb6  A.  Bros,  professor  at  the  seminary  of  Meaux,  was 
justly  alarmed  because  of  the  efforts  being  made  to  draw  anti- 
Christian  arguments  from  these  subjects  which  are  so  little 
understood ;  he  judged  it  was  time  to  become  initiated  in  these 
problems.  Unfortunately  he  began  by  regarding  with  sur- 
prising docility  as  "henceforth  established"  the  authenticity 
of  facts  presented  by  Tylor,  Keville,  Lang,  and  Marillier.  With 
the  same  obliging  condescension  he  admits  most  of  their  theories 
as  to  the  role  of  animism  among  "non-civilized  peoples,"  as 
to  their  ignorance  of  God,  their  lack  of  morality,  etc. ;  he  regards 
all  religions  of  savages,  with  their  various  manifestations,  as 
having  their  origin  and  explanation  simply  in  the  nature  of 
man;  and  he  concludes  that  these  studies  can  be  of  service  in 
Christian  apologetics  only  by  showing  the  innateness  of  relig- 
ious needs  and  the  wonderful  manner  in  which  Christianity 
has  met  those  needs. 

We  are  happy  to  acknowledge  these  labors  and  good  inten- 
tions. Desirous,  as  we  are,  of  taking  our  stand  exclusively 
on  the  basis  of  scientific  observation,  as  our  adversaries  chal- 
lenge us  to  do,  we  can  not,  however,  accept  with  the  same  easy 
docility  and,  so  to  speak,  without  examination,  the  assertions 
and  conclusions  opposed  to  us.  But  Abbe  Bros,  while  giving 
his  foes  this  mark  of  confidence,  proves  that  the  Catholic  scholar 
is  not  obliged  to  follow  one  only  method' and  a  single  system — 
reproaches  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

In  any  case,  whether  to  the  advantage  of  friends  or  enemies 
of  Christianity,  the  science  of  the  history  of  religions  has  been 
born.  The  problems  that  it  raises  must  be  solved  by  facing 
them  squarely. 

"Of  course,"  writes  Chantepie  de  la  Saussaye,  "this  has 
met  with  some  opposition,  partly  from  philologists  and  special- 

"Fernand  Nicolay,  Histoire  des  croi/cmces,  3  vols.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  451. 


i^ 


12  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

ists  who  fancy  that  such  a  general  study  will  lead  to  empty 
dilettantism,  and  partly  in  the  interests  of  Christianity,  since 
people  are  afraid  that  these  studies  will  only  increase  skepticism, 
and  indifference. '^  '^^ 


II.     Actual  Tendencies 

Prejudice  and  Incompetency 

Churches,  philologists,  and  scholars  in  general  might  reply 
to  the  worthy  professor  of  the  Leyden  University  that  they  are 
not  the  only  ones  who  have  a  right  to  complain,  not  of  the 
researches  and  discoveries  due  to  the  history  of  religions,  but, 
as  I  have  already  remarked,  of  the  spirit  which  has  generally 
inspired  those  investigations,  as  likewise  the  method  that  has 
guided  them.  Science  itself  has  a  right  to  utter  its  reservations 
and  protests.    It  has  this  right  chiefly  for  two  reasons : 

1.  Hitherto  the  study  of  the  history  of  religions  has  not, 
generally  speaking,  been  carried  on  with  the  requisite  impar- 
tiality ; 

2.  'Nor,  we  make  bold  to  say,  has  its  treatment  been  marked 
by  the  competency  to  be  desired  in  matters  concerning  the 
primitive  or  non-civilized  peoples  that  are  its  object. 

I^eed  we  add  that,  in  making  this  double  assertion,  we  have 
no  intention  of  calling  into  question  the  good  faith  of  our 
adversaries?  None  of  our  philosophical,  political,  social,  or 
religious  convictions  is  purely  intellectual.  The  apparent  rea- 
sons one  may  have  for  not  believing,  as  well  as  those  for  believ- 
ing, are  nearly  always  mingled  in  various  proportions  with 
other  reasons  more  or  less  obscure  and  subconscious.  First  of 
all,  there  is  ignorance  of  the  subject — ignorantia  elenchi  in 
the  language  of  the  Schoolmen — whatever  study  one  may  have 
made  of  it  and  however  much  one  may  be  satisfied  with  one's 
knowledge;  added  to  this  are  personal  dispositions,  intellectual 
or  moral,  the  environment  in  which  one  lives,  education,  asso- 
ciation, interests,  passions,  etc. ;  all  acting  on  man's  spirit  with 
an  accumulated  force  from  which  he  can  scarce  free  himself :  a 

^*  Mwnual  of  the  Science  of  Religion,  p.  7. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS    13 

bath,  as  it  were,  in  which  the  whole  soul  is  immersed.  Proofs 
that  are  sought  find  ready  acceptance.  Palatable  to  one,  they 
are  easily  believed  acceptable  to  all  and,  however  little  such 
a  protagonist  may  be  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  proselytism, 
he  finds  satisfaction  none  the  less  in  the  noble  mission  of 
enlightening  mankind. 

Fortunately  this  disposition  is  not  equally  shared.  In  non- 
Christian  religions,  unbelief  is  not  aggressive.  The  fetichist, 
the  Buddhist,  the  Mussulman,  who  has  lost  his  faith,  is  not 
the  least  desirous  of  making  others  lose  theirs :  he  simply  goes 
his  way,  leaving  his  neighbors  to  go  theirs.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  attitude  of  those  professing  Christianity,  and  especially 
Catholic  Christianity,  is  notably  different.  Why?  For  the 
fundamental  reason  that,  in  the  case  of  Christianity,  the  direc- 
tion of  one's  life  must  be  determined  according  to  the  solution 
adopted.  And  it  seems  that  the  infidel — using  the  word  in  the 
strict  sense  of  its  double  root  (ivrfidelis) — not  being  able  to 
arrive  at  an  absolute,  incontestable  conviction,  unconsciously 
seeks,  while  communicating  his  disbelief  to  others,  to  secure 
for  himself  sufficient  support  to  reassure  his  troubled  spirit  and 
calm  the  vague  apprehensions  of  his  conscience.  For  a  contrary 
reason,  one  of  the  faithful,  sure  of  possessing  the  truth,  can 
not  keep  it  to  himself,  nor  does  he  wish  to,  for  he  is  prompted 
to  play  the  missionary  by  the  double  desire  of  assuring  himself 
of  the  triumph  to  which  he  has  a  right  and  of  putting  on  the 
path  of  eternal  salvation  his  ^'brethren"  endangered  by  igno- 
rance. Hence  the  conflict.  It  had  been  predicted:  Do  not 
thinh  that  I  came  to  send  peace  upon  earth.'^^ 

But  to  return  to  our  historians  of  religion. 

We  repeat  that,  in  general,  they  have  lacked  impartiality. 
After  collecting  the  beliefs,  practices,  myths,  traditions,  super- 
stitions, forms  of  worship,  and  magic  of  all  peoples  and  all 
times,  the  purpose  intended  and  even  openly  avowed  by  many 
of  these  is,  in  brief,  to  show  that  all  religions  resemble  and 
explain  one  another,  and  that  no  one  of  them  is  justified  in 
imposing  itself  as  a  supernatural  expression  of  the  truth.    Thus 

"Matth.  10:34. 


14  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

united  and  mingled  in  a  sort  of  museum,  eacli  with  its  proper 
label,  they  can  serve  as  a  subject  of  study  for  those  interested 
in  matters  of  psychology ;  but  in  practice,  the  various  religions 
ought  to  be  gradually  replaced  by  the  Keligion,  which  will 
remain,  if  you  wish,  an  august  aspiration  towards  the  ideal. 
It  will  even  be  much  better  than  present-day  religions,   for 
an  ideal  without  dogma  or  moral  code,  with  neither  obligation 
*  \  nor  sanction,  can  really  inconvenience  no  one.     Guided  by  this 
^/Xhope,  our  explorers,  lamp  in  hand,  may  be  seen  following  their 
T  own  footsteps  in  long  and  painful  circuits,  seeking  in  the  night  ' 
\  of  the  past  an  ideal  theory  that  will  deliver  them  from  a  positive, 
obligatory,  and  sovereign  religion. 

According  to  some,  the  "religious  phenomenon"  can  be  ex- 
plained as  the  product  of  primitive  ignorance,  fear  of  the 
unknown,  troubles  of  conscience,  the  magnitude  of  atmospheric 
phenomena,  or  the  self-seeking  fabrications  of  priests : 

Primus  in  orhe  deos  fecit  timor,  ardua  coeli 
Fulmina  dum  caderent  .  .  ,'^^ 

Another  school  replies:  this  is  a  deplorable  misconception 
and  degradation  of  religion  and  humanity,  since  there  is  some- 
thing here  besides  emotions  and  impressions.  The  religious 
phenomenon  is  a  social  fact,  explained  and  justified  by  the 
necessity  of  life  in  common,  though  varying  according  to  en- 
vironment, country,  population,  and  degree  of  civilization,  but 
imposing  itself  nevertheless  upon  all  human  aggregations.  Such 
is  the  solution  of  the  sociologists. 

An  inadmissible  hypothesis,  objects  a  third  school:  for  the 
religious  phenomenon  precedes  the  social  pact,  it  does  not 
follow  it.  "It  is  necessary  to  look  for  the  origin  of  religions 
in  psychology."  ^"^  Psychology  explains  it  all  to  us:  from  his 
own  inner  depths,  man  has  drawn  his  beliefs,  his  practices, 
his  morals,  his  religions  organization,  from  the  simplest  form 

'•"The  gods  in  the  world  were  at  first  born  of  fear,  when  the  terrible 
thunder  fell  from  the  sky."  The  verse  is  from  Stacius  {Thelais,  III,  360), 
who  borrowed  it  from  Petronius.  The  same  thought  is  developed  at  greater 
length  in  Lucretius   (De  natura  rerum). 

""  Solomon  Reinach,  Cults,  Myths,  and  Religions,  p.  v. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS     15 

to  the  most  complex  evolution;  and  as  human  nature  is  every- 
where identical,  so,  too,  its  religious  expression  is  forever 
repeated,  ^^reproducing  itself  indefinitely  like  the  images  re- 
flected back  and  forth  by  two  mirrors  face  to  face."  '^^ 

Many  other  theories  have  been  advanced:  but  up  to  the 
present,  none  has  been  received  with  any  marked  favor. 

Such  methods  form  what  A.  Eeville  more  than  thirty  years 
ago  called  the  a  priori  elements  of  the  history  of  religion.  And 
after  rejecting  such  of  these  a  priori  elements  as  he  judged 
unacceptable,  he  set  forth  his  own  theory.  First  of  all,  he 
eliminated  from  the  study  of  religions  not  only  ^Hhe  hypothesis 
of  a  primitive  revelation  of  religious  truth  to  mankind,"  but 
also  that  of  a  tradition  or  "regular  and  continuous  transmission 
of  recollections  going  back  to  the  origin  of  the  species  and 
serving  as  a  criterion  for  the  interpretation  of  parallel  tradi- 
tions." 

At  bottom,  this  philosophical  dogmatism,  while  severely  re- 
proaching the  dogmatism  opposed  to  it — ^viz.,  theology — insists  / 
on  a  similarly  intransigent  system.  Such  a  "natural"  dogma- 
tism results  from  an  unwillingness  to  acknowledge  the  super- 
natural. 'No  supernatural  in  history  and  no  supernatural  in 
religion;  no  miracles,  no  mysteries — is  the  law  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  entire  materialist  and  rationalist  school,  must  dom- 
inate the  science  of  the  history  of  religions,  as  all  other  sciences. 

It  is  evident  that  if  everything  in  the  world  were  matter,  we 
would  be  mistaken  in  looking  for  the  supernatural.  But  is 
everything  matter,  and  what  right  has  any  one  to  make  such 
a  philosophical  hypothesis  the  foundation  of  a  science  that  / 
should,  like  every  other  science,  loyally  search  for  facts,  group 
them,  and  try  in  explaining  them  to  draw  logical  conclu- 
sions ? 

As  to  the  rationalist  school,  since  it  admits  the  possibility 
of  the  supernatural,  does  it  not  see  that  it  is  thereby  obliged 
to  admit,  as  well,  the  possibility  of  supernatural  manifestations 
and  consequently  of  their  control  ?  In  fact,  as  Brunetiere  well 
said, 

"H.  Hubert,  Introduction  to  Chantepie  d^  la  Saussaye's  Manual  of  the 
Soienoe  of  Religion. 


16  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

"to  deny  the  supernatural  is,  according  to  all  appearances,  to 
deny  the  law  of  history ;  and  to  deny  the  supernatural  in  nature 
is,  without  any  shadow  of  hesitation  or  doubt,  to  deny  the  liberty 
of  God.  History,  moreover,  has  only  to  record  facts  duly  testi- 
fied by  witnesses.  To  inject  therein  a  gratuitous  principle  of 
Kantian  and  naturalistic  metaphysics  .  .  .  that  can  not  be 
done  without  contradicting  reason  itself  and  precisely  'the  law 
of  history.'  "  7» 

If  the  supernatural  be  eliminated — for  that  is  the  necessary 
and  preliminary  operation — ^what  will  replace  it  ?  Here  evolu- 
tion comes  to  the  front.  "Evolution,"  says  Eeinach,  as  an 
axiomatic  conclusion  to  one  of  his  lectures,  "is  the  great  law 
in  the  study  of  humanity  because  it  is  the  law  of  humanity 
itself.''  ^^  In  fact,  the  idea  of  evolution,  introduced  by  Lamarck 
and  Darwin  into  the  natural  sciences,  has  gradually  penetrated 
other  realms — physics,  biology,  philosophy,  history,  and  even 
theology.  ^^ 

Let  us  not,  then,  be  surprised  to  find  it  here  in  its  most 
absolute  and  amazing  application.  First,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  man  has  come  from  animal  life  which,  slowly  evolving, 
little  by  little  acquired  self -consciousness,  became  intellectually 
perfected  and,  at  some  period  impossible  to  ascertain  even 
approximately,  began  to  show  religious  preoccupations.  Initial 
religion  under  these  conditions  must  have  been  extremely  vague 
and  crude;  for,  as  the  type  of  primitive  humanity  is  found,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  found  at  all,  in  the  savages  of  to-day,  so  the 
religion  of  our  savages  must  necessarily  be  crude  and  vague. 
And  that  is  just  what  they  show  us  by  gathering  numberless 
facts,  grouping  and  explaining  them. 

We,  too,  will  do  the  same.  For  the  present,  however,  let  us 
make  this  simple  comment — on  which  we  will  dwell  later — that, 

"Brunetiere,  Discours  de  combat:  les  difficultes  de  croire,  pp.  212-214. 

'"Reinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  209. 

^  Scholars  are  far  from  being  in  accord  as  to  the  import  of  this  law. 
Dr.  Quinton  wrote:  "Does  evolution  result,  as  Darwin  and  especially 
Lamarck  would  like,  from  a  tendency  towards  indefinite  progress?  I  reply 
positively:  No.  Evolution  has  for  its  purpose  to  maintain  the  vital  inten- 
sity of  the  origins,  and  it  has  no  other."  It  is  a  point  of  view  and  a  teii^ 
duncy,  as  we  see,  quite  different  from  that  generally  proposed. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  EELIGIONS     17 

by  making  the  evolutionary  hypothesis  an  a  priori  law  which 
rules  all  the  rest,  they  seem  to  begin  where  they  ought  to  finish. 
The  principle  of  evolution  in  religion,  so  seductive  and  con- 
venient, should  not  be  a  directing  principle:  and  it  can  be 
admitted  as  a  conclusion  only  when  the  facts  support  it. 

Will  its  advocates  reply  that  these  very  facts  have  been  care- 
fully gathered  in  great  numbers  by  such  men  as  Tylor,  Spencer, 
Frazer,  Bastian,  Eeville,  and  many  others?  If  so,  we  beg  to 
ask  these  authors  whether  science  really  consecrates  this  strange 
proceeding  that  consists  in  placing  in  relief  such  facts  as 
support  a  theory  while  carefully  removing  those  which  contra- 
dict it.  This  reproach,  the  gravity  of  which  can  escape  no  one, 
is  unfortunately  the  very  one  made  against  all  the  historians 
of  religion  whom  we  have  just  mentioned.  It  is  the  accusation 
presented  with  rare  independence  of  spirit  by  Andrew  Lang, 
whose  authority  is  beyond  question. 

"Anthropology,"  he  says,  "while  fixing  its  gaze  on  totems, 
on  worshiped  mummies,  adored  ghosts,  and  treasured  fetiches, 
has  not,  to  my  knowledge,  made  a  comparative  study  of  the 
higher  and  purer  religious  ideas  of  savages.  These  have  been 
passed  by,  with  a  word  about  credulous  missionaries  and 
Christian  influences."  ®" 

In  this  clever  art  of  grouping  facts,  Herbert  Spencer  has 
particularly  distinguished  himself.  Although,  in  the  accounts 
of  travelers,  he  sometimes  found  on  the  same  page  equally 
authentic  and  cogent  testimony  in  favor  of  more  elevated  as 
well  as  lower  religious  forms,  he  passes  over  the  former  in 
silence,  noting  only  "the  rabble  of  gods  and  fetiches." 

Tylor  and  Frazer  do  practically  the  same  thing.  To  the 
latter,  Lang  puts  these  embarrassing  questions : 

"Why  does  Frazer  neglect  to  cite  and  refute  the  reports  of 
witnesses  who  are  so  fatal  to  his  theory,  whereas  he  does  make 
use  of  other  passages  in  their  works?  Why  does  he  ignore 
them  on  these  points?  I  can  not  understand  such  a  method. 
Whenever  an  historian  has  a  theory,  he  is  always  in  search  of 
facts  that  may  be  opposed  to  it;  the  chemist  or  biologist  also 
«'A.  Lang,  The  Making  of  Religion  (ed.  1909),  p.  256. 


18  THE  RELIGIOISr  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

does   not  overlook  cases  that  may   not  be   favorable  to  his 
system."  ^^ 

In  a  most  admirable  spirit  of  frankness  Andrew  Lang  con- 
tinues : 

"Our  science  ought  above  all  to  be  scientific.  It  should 
not  close  its  eyes  to  facts  just  because  these  facts  do  not  fall 
in  with  its  hypotheses  concerning  the  nature  of  things  or  of 
religion :  it  ought  to  attach  equal  value  to  the  facts  that  contra- 
dict its  theories  and  to  those  which  support  them.  ISTot  only 
is  science  never  permitted  to  ignore  unfavorable  evidence,  but 
it  should  even  examine  it  with  care,  investigating  what  Bacon 
calls  the  instanciae  contradidoriae :  for,  if  there  are  such,  any 
theory  is  vain  that  fails  to  take  account  of  them.'^ 

These  just  and  characteristic  reproaches  seem  to  have  received 
a  hearing  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel.  They  are  scarcely 
noted  on  the  continent,  where  Christianity — i.e.,  positive, 
obligatory,  and  absolute  religion — continues  to  be  used  as  an 
attractive  target  by  the  new  science. 

To  1  y  we  need  to  know  what  method  to  use  and  how  to 
empL  y  new  means.  Observe  what  one  scientist  tells  us.  He 
is  on  3  of  the  best  armed,  most  expert  and  ardent. 

"The  strife  of  insults  and  raillery,"  he  says,  "undertaken 
by  the  eighteenth  century  against  an  oppressive  past  has  been 
in  vain ;  but  social  paleontology,  if  it  wishes  to  renew  the  strife 
with  the  calmness  and  dignity  proper  to  science,  will  find  the 
history  of  religions  the  most  useful  of  historic  studies  and  will 
incidentally  discover  that  it  has  more  spirit  than  Voltaire."  ^* 

Urged  on  by  his  zeal,  Keinach  adds: 

"The  rationalism  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  a  shabby  doc- 
trine, made  up  of  impertinences  and  rash  negations" — let  us 
remember  that — "pretending  to  suppress  religion  without  under- 
standing its  essence,  without  having  any  clear  idea  of  its  genesis 
and   development.      Thanks   to   philology,    anthropology,    and 

^^A.  Lang,  Magic  and  Religion,  p.  56. 
**Reinach,  Cults,  Myths,  and  Religions. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS     19 

ethnography,  we  are  now  raising  the  veil  that  still  conceals 
from  most  men  the  origin  and  inner  significance  of  their  beliefs, 
without  having  recourse  to  hypotheses  so  absurd  as  those  of  a 
Dupuis,  so  insipid  and  inadequate  as  those  of  a  Voltaire.  If 
we  can  do  it,  we  must.  Deeply  penetrated  with  this  truth,  I 
address  myself  to  Jews  as  well  as  Christians,  to  ignorant  atheists 
as  well  as  to  learned  believers,  in  order  to  herald  the  good  news 
of  religions  brought  to  light."  ^^ 

To  such  dogmatic  preoccupations  of  propagandism  as  have 
so  frequently  inspired  and  directed  religious  studies,  there  is 
too  often  added  a  lack  of  acquaintance  with  all  that  especially 
concerns  the  primitive  peoples  who  constitute  the  object  of  our 
researches  in  this  work. 

Surely  I  am  most  ready  to  pay  sincere  and  loyal  homage 
to  so  many  investigators  and  learned  men  who,  particularly 
in  England,  but  also  in  France,  Germany,  Holland,  the  United 
States,  and  elsewhere,  have  gathered  enormous  quantities  of 
material  for  use  in  the  history  of  religions.  They  have  devoted 
themselves  to  most  fruitful  research;  theirs  has  been  the  first 
initiative ;  with  patience  and  sagacity  and  even  with  admirable 
tact  they  have  endeavored  to  throw  light  on  a  multitude  of 
obscure  and  too  often  neglected  questions. 

But  religious  questions  are  extremely  delicate.  And  they  are 
precisely  the  only  ones,  besides  political  questions,  that  every 
one  thinks  himself  competent  to  treat  without  preparation., 
What  misunderstandings  are  begotten  by  this  unfitness,  what 
hazardous  interpretations,  what  far-fetched  analogies,  what  sys- 
tems possessing  no  advantage  but  that  of  destroying  one  another 
and  thus  facilitating  the  work  of  the  critic ! 

Should  we  be  astonished  at  these  results  ?  Here,  for  example, 
is  the  Christian  religion  or,  to  be  more  specific,  the  Catholic 
religion.  The  study  of  it  is  seemingly  easy :  it  has  representa- 
tives, official  treatises,  approved  rituals,  external  manifestations, 
in  a  word,  sources  of  information  open  to  every  comer.  And 
these  are  not  at  the  equator  or  the  poles,  not  in  prehistoric 
ages,  not  in  a  domain  accessible  only  to  the  initiated,  but  here 
in  Europe,  at  Rome,  at  Paris.     The  more  you  question  Chris- 


20  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

tianity,  tlie  more  pleased  she  is  and,  as  in  the  time  of  Tertullian, 
she  asks  merely  not  to  be  condemned  without  a  hearing  (ne 
ignorata  damnetur).  Eead  such  and  such  writings  reputed 
to  be  learned:  you  will  find  therein  on  the  subject  of  the  Cath- 
olic religion  a  vast  quantity  of  dogmatic  assertions  which  are,  in 
fact,  nothing  but  inexcusably  stupid  and  absurdly  ridiculous 
mistakes.  ^^ 

But  if  all  these  misconceptions  are  possible  in  regard  to  a 
belief  so  easily  accessible,  how  many  errors  are  we  not  exposed 
to  in  the  study  of  religions  so  vague,  strange,  incoherent,  and 
obscure  as  those  of  primitive  races?  If,  moreover,  we  must 
depend  upon  incomplete  or  inexact  accounts,  never  living  in 
the  midst  of  these  peoples,  never  able  to  question  them  in  their 
own  language,  or  to  breathe,  as  it  were,  the  atmosphere  of  their 
social,  moral,  and  religious  environment,  with  no  means  of 
knowing  this  so-called  savage  except  through  photographic  spec- 
imens or  exhibitions  in  museums  and  fairs,  how  far  shall  we 
be  led  astray  ? 

Personal  study,  undertaken  on  the  spot,  is  plainly  lacking 
in  most  of  the  accepted  historians  of  primitive  religions.  More- 
over, with  strong  prejudgments,  they  take  pains  to  compose  a 
type  of  religious  savage  or  of  savage  religion  whose  most  prom- 
inent quality  is  agreement  with  their  own  conceptions. 

One  who  is  frankly  a  materialist  and  atheist  makes  of  the 
non-civilized  man  a  dull  brute,  barely  emerged  from  animality, 

*®Here  is  a  simple  example.  In  an  article  devoted  to  "evolution  in  the- 
ology," Solomon  Reinach  calmly  writes:  "Catholic  apologetics  for  centuries 
has  lived  on  a  transparent  sophism:  the  authority  of  the  Church  founded 
on  that  of  the  Scriptures,  and  that  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  authority  of  the 
Church."      {Op.  cit.) 

Since  Reinach,  celebrated  scholar  and  member  of  the  Institute,  wishes  to 
treat  of  Catholic  theology,  how  does  it  happen  that  unhesitatingly  and 
without  examination,  he  attributes  such  a  vicious  circle  to  it?  How  does 
it  happen  that,  when  writing  of  theology,  he  does  not  know  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  theology  and  is  ignorant  of  its  most  elementary  treatises  {De  vera 
religione,  de  locis  theologicis,  etc.),  where  this  "transparent  sophism"  is 
precisely  refuted?  By  uttering  such  gross  errors  as  axioms  in  so  important 
a  matter,  does  he  not  see  that  he  is  seriously  compromising  his  reputation  as 
a  safe  and  impartial  scholar  ?  The  authority  of  the  Church  is  founded  first 
of  all  on  the  divinity  of  her  origin,  and  the  divinity  of  her  origin  is  based 
on  historical  facta  and  proofs  of  reason.  (See  Tanquerey,  De  vera  re- 
ligione. ) 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  EELIGIONS     21 

and  resembling  closely  enough  the  man  whom  certain  classical 
manuals  describe  as  our  first  ancestor,  ''a  frightful  monster, 
with  long  teeth,  the  face  of  a  beast,  arms  and  legs  covered  with 
hair"  ^'^ ;  all  of  which,  by  the  way,  would  tend  to  prove  to 
enthusiastic  evolutionists  that  if  man  evolves,  he  evolves  very 
slowly. 

Another,  who  appreciates  the  lofty  character  of  the  "religious 
phenomenon,''  and  who  feels  obliged  to  give  a  reason  for  every- 
thing, unconsciously  substitutes  himself  in  place  of  the  prim- 
itive and  attributes  to  the  latter  sentiments,  ideas,  and  concep- 
tions contained  in  our  latest  philosophical  systems.  By  this 
process  a  Hottentot  finds  himself  (without  knowing  it)  quite 
at  home  in  the  difiicult  mysteries  of  Kantism  and  modernism !  / 
What  illusion  and  simplicity! 

Meanwhile  scholars,  publicists,  and  sociologists  advance  the- 
ories, group  facts,  interpret  institutions,  point  out  origins,  trans- 
form themselves  into  "seers,"  reading  with  ease  the  most  remote 
past,  telling  us  the  mentality  of  unknown  peoples,  unveiling 
every  mystery  and  revealing  how  man,  as  he  emerged  from  the 
beast,  began  by  "adoring"  stones,  plants,  animals,  and  stars.  - 
Then  they  tell  us  how  naturism  produced  animism,  how  from 
animism  was  born  fetichism,  and  in  like  manner  polytheism, 
theism,  religions,  and  finally  the  Eeligion.  Such  is  the  naturist 
theory  which  seems  to  be  that  accepted  by  A.  Reville.  At  any 
rate,  he  keenly  combats  the  system  that  places  fetichism  at  the 
base  of  religious  evolution,  which  seems  to  be  definitely  aban- 
doned to-day.  It  was  the  theory  of  Auguste  Comte,  Lubbock, 
Schultze,  and  Girard  de  Rialle. 

According  to  Herbert  Spencer  and  his  disciple  Grant  Allen, 
religion  began  with  venerating  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  But 
this  opinion,  in  support  of  which  the  celebrated  philosopher 
used  a  great  amount  of  material  collected  by  other  hands,  is  no 
longer  accepted  as  "scientific." 

Max  Miiller,  the  distinguished  Indianist,  thought  that  if  prim- 
itive man  had  a  belief  in  higher  divinities,  it  was  in  conse- 
quence of  an  error  due  to  a  "corruption  of  language" ;  since 
the  ancient  Indo-Germanic  tongues  have  a  termination  to  express 

"Vilain,  La  lecture  du  jour,  p.  6. 


22  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PKIMITIVES 

the  gender  of  nouns,  the  words  heaven,  earth,  sea,  rain,  etc.,  soon 
passed  for  living  beings  and  were  classed  with  one  or  the 
other  sex. 

This  theory  no  longer  has  any  partisans.  The  chief  objection 
against  it  is  that  it  does  not  apply  to  a  great  many  languages 
in  the  world. 

According  to  J.  G.  Frazer,  primitive  man  was  under  the 
sway  of  two  fundamental  impressions,  one  of  which  came  to  be 
expressed  in  magic,  the  other  in  religion.  This  idea  was  taken 
up  with  some  modifications  in  France  by  Hubert  and  Mauss, 
then  by  A.  van  Gennep.     It  is  a  statement,  not  an  explanation. 

With  W.  Kobertson  Smith,  F.  B.  Jevons,  and  Solomon 
Reinach,  totemism  becomes  a  religion.  In  the  sacrifice  of  the 
animal  totem  and  by  participation  in  the  flesh  of  the  victim, 
we  have  at  length  the  source  of  the  Christian  mass  and  com- 
munion. 

According  to  Usener  and  many  German  ethnologists,  relig- 
ious notions  are  derived  from  the  depths  of  conscience  by  the 
production  of  the  mythical  image,  whence  came  the  concrete 
and  allegorical  representation  of  the  gods. 

Astral  mythology  especially,  which  must  have  spread  from 
the  valley  of  the  Euphrates,  should  be  considered,  according 
to  A.  Jeremias  and  H.  Winckler,  as  the  first  revelation  of  the 
power  of  divinity. 

But  all  or  nearly  all  these  systems  presuppose  the  theory  of 
primitive  animism,  advanced  by  Tylor  ^^  and  more  or  less 
adopted  by  Tiele. 

We  shall  frequently  find  the  chief  data  of  this  system  in  our 
path:  so  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  summarize  them  here.  To 
this  end  we  can  not  do  better  than  profit  from  the  study  devoted 
to  the  subject  by  W.  Schmidt.^^ 

1.  Considering,  on  one  hand,  sleep,  waking,  sickness,  death, 
and  on  the  other,  dreams  and  visions,  man  at  an  early  date  must 
have  formed  the  idea  that  there  exists  in  him  something  distinct 
from  his  body,  viz.,  the  soul.  In  the  first  category  of  these 
phenomena,  he  sees  the  body  more  or  less  abandoned  by  its 

^Primitive  Cultwe. 

^^ Uorigine  de  Videe  de  Dieu  (in  Anthropos,  1908,  p.  139). 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  BELIGIONS    23 

vivifying  principle  and,  in  the  second — visions  and  dreams — 
this  principle  seems  to  manifest  itself  as  isolated  from  the  body. 
From  this  first  idea  comes  belief  in  the  survival  of  the  soul, 
in  metempyschosis,  and  the  worship  of  the  dead.  The  theory 
of  a  reward  in  the  other  world  is  of  a  later  date. 

2.  Moreover,  primitive  man  imagines  that  the  different  beings 
surrounding  him  are  of  the  same  type  as  himself.  On  them 
all  he  bestows  a  vivifying  soul ;  and  thus  between  man,  animals, 
plants,  and  all  the  rest,  a  vast  relationship  is  formed. 

3.  The  worship  of  ancestors  begets  the  idea  of  pure  spirits. 
These  spirits  being  able  in  their  turn  to  take  possession  of  this 
or  that  body,  according  to  their  fancy,  we  have,  as  a  conse- 
quence, the  conception  of  sickness  and  death  being  produced  by 
invisible,  hostile  intervention,  belief  in  diabolical  possession, 
veneration  for  the  objects  of  nature,  fetichism,  and  lastly  idol- 
atry, properly  so  called. 

4.  Soon  all  the  elements  of  nature  are  regarded  as  animated, 
and  we  have  the  cult  of  celestial  phenomena,  of  water,  rivers, 
the  sea,  trees,  groves,  mountains,  animals,  totems.  The  cul- 
minating point  of  this  evolution  is  the  species-divinity,  which 
is  no  longer  a  concrete  deified  object,  but  an  entire  species. 

5.  Then  is  born  the  loftier  polytheism  of  half -civilized  or 
civilized  races,  with  gods  of  the  sky,  rain,  thunder,  wind,  earth, 
water,  fire,  sun,  moon;  after  that,  the  gods  who  preside  over 
diverse  phases  and  functions  of  human  life,  birth,  death,  agri- 
culture, war,  and  finally  above  all  these,  the  father  of  the  gods. 

6.  Even  in  the  lower  degrees  of  this  religion  we  find  traces 
of  a  dualistic  system ;  but  the  terms  good  and  had  signify  rather 
useful  and  injurious.  To  this  conception  is  generally  added 
that  of  a  good  and  a  bad  power  often  represented,  as  in  the 
Zend  Avesta,  by  light  and  darkness. 

Y.  Above  souls  or  manes,  local  divinities,  and  spirits  over- 
seeing the  elements,  we  can  distinguish  in  the  theology  of 
savages,  sometimes  disfigured,  again  majestic,  certain  shadowy 
notions  of  a  supreme  Being,  that  increases  in  vigor  and  glory 
in  its  course  through  the  history  of  religion. 

8.  Monotheism  could  have  been  produced  in  different  ways: 
by  the  elevation  of  a  polytheistic  divinity  to  supreme  rank, 


24  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

whereby  lie  became  the  first  father  of  the  gods  or  the  most 
powerful  divinity  of  nature;  by  constituting  a  sort  of  "pan- 
theon/' the  king  of  which  was  the  supreme  divinity;  or  by 
the  elaboration  of  a  doctrine  which  considered  the  entire  uni- 
verse as  animated  by  an  all-powerful  divinity,  the  Anhna  mundi. 
This  theory,  although  coherent  and  well  constructed,  has 
found  but  few  followers.  The  American  ethnologist,  D.  G. 
Brinton,  for  example,  shows  how  one  can  admit  the  same  facts 
as  Tylor  and  arrive  at  a  system  quite  opposite. 

"This  universal  postulate,"  he  says,  "the  psychic  origin  of 
all  religious  thought,  is  the  recognition  or,  if  you  please,  the 
assumption,  that  conscious  volition  is  the  ultimate  source  of 
all  force.  It  is  the  belief  that  behind  the  sensuous,  phenomenal 
world,  distinct  from  it,  giving  it  form,  existence,  and  activity, 
lies  the  ultimate,  invisible,  immeasurable  power  of  Mind,  of 
conscious  Will,  of  Intelligence,  analogous  in  some  way  to  our 
own;  and — mark  this  essential  corollary — that  man  is  in  com- 
munication with  it."  ^^ 

Thus  we  see  that  each  system  is  opposed  and  destroyed  by 
its  successor;  and  in  this  incoherent  multitude  of  theories  pre- 
senting themselves  one  and  all  as  the  expression  of  the  truth, 
we  find  at  length  nothing  left  except  the  fact  that  the  "religious 
phenomenon"  is  discovered  everywhere,  and  that  it  remains 
unexplained. 

III.     Our  Method 
Not  a  priori;  on  the  Adversaries'  Ground 

May  we  expect  to  fare  better?  Such,  at  least,  is  our  hope. 
First  of  all,  let  it  be  noted  that,  while  our  predecessors  in  the 
history  of  religions  have  often  been  influenced  by  anti-Christian 
preoccupations  and  in  consequence  have  begun  by  removing  the 
supernatural  from  their  scheme,  such  a  display  of  bias  is  no 
reason  for  us  to  adopt  our  dogma  as  a  predetermined  principle, 
in  opposition  to  theirs. 

Certainly,  we  intend  to  disguise,  dissimulate,  minimize,  or 

*°  Religions  of  Primitive  Peoples,  p.  47. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  EELIGIONS     25 

denaturalize  not  the  slightest  parcel  of  our  faith.  But  we 
believe  that,  although  this  faith  could  often  illuminate  the  dark 
path  on  which  we  are  setting  out,  it  is  not  desirable  for  us, 
in  view  of  our  proposed  method,  to  make  it  the  point  of  de- 
parture. 

In  the  preface  to  one  of  the  first  works  dedicated  to  these 
studies.  Sir  John  Lubbock  wrote : 

'Tully  satisfied  that  Keligion  and  Science  can  not  in  reality 
be  at  variance,  I  have  striven  in  the  present  publication  to 
follow  out  the  rule  laid  down  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  his 
excellent  lecture  delivered  last  year  at  Edinburgh.  ^The  man 
of  science,'  says  Dr.  Tait,  'ought  to  go  on  honestly,  patiently, 
diffidently,  observing  and  storing  up  his  observations,  and  carry- 
ing his  reasonings  unflinchingly  to  their  legitimate  conclusions, 
convinced  that  it  would  be  treason  to  the  majesty  at  once  of 
science  and  of  religion  if  he  sought  to  help  either  by  swerving 
ever  so  little  from  the  straight  rule  of  truth.'  "  ^^ 

This  rule  we  adopt  as  our  own. 

We  will  go  still  farther.  With  that  simplicity  of  spirit 
which  is  considered  one  of  our  Christian  virtues,  we,  who 
invoke  the  Gospel,  will  permit  ourselves  to  be  enticed  upon  the 
ground  which  our  adversaries  have  chosen  and  where  they  have 
already  taken  the  precaution  to  dig  our  tomb. 

We  are  pleased  to  cite  the  words  of  Eeinach  because  of  the 
authority  he  enjoys  on  this  subject. 

^^Man,  everywhere  and  at  whatsoever  period  we  observe  him, 
is  a  religious  animal;  religiosity,  as  the  positivists  say,  is  the 
most  essential  of  his  attributes,  and  no  one  any  longer  believes, 
with  Gabriel  de  Mortillet  and  Hovelacque,  that  quaternary  man 
was  ignorant  of  religion.  Unless  we  admit  the  gratuitous  and 
puerile  hypothesis  of  a  primitive  revelation,  we  must  seek  the 
origin  of  religions  in  the  psychology  of  man,  not  of  civilized 
man,  but  of  man  the  farthest  removed. 

"Of  this  man,  anterior  to  all  history,  we  have  no  direct  knowl- 
edge, beyond  what  we  glean  from  the  implements  and  artistic 
products  of  the  quaternary  period.     True,  these  teach  us  some- 

"Sir  John  Lubbock,  Prehistoric  Times,  as  Illustrated  hy  Ancient  Re- 
mams,  and  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  Modern  Savages,  1865,  Pref.,  p.  8. 


26  THE  EELIGION  OP  THE  PRIMITIVES 

thing  .  .  .  but  far  less  than  we  could  wish.  To  supple- 
ment our  information,  three  other  sources  have  to  he  tapped: 
the  psychology  of  the  present  day  savage,  the  psychology  of 
children,  and  the  psychology  of  the  higher  animals."  ^^ 

Let  us  leave  to  Keinach  a  task  too  delicate  for  our  feeble 
means  of  information,  the  interrogation  of  gorillas  on  their 
1\  religious  convictions;   let  us  spare  the  children,   and  content 
\  -  ourselves  with  the  savages.         _, 
'As  a  matter  oT  fact,  f\^^^ 

"the  existing  savage,"  Keinach  writes,  "resembles  a  bed  of  lime- 
stone cropping  out  in  an  alluvial  country.  If  we  dig  to  a 
sufficient  depth  under  the  gravel,  we  strike  the  same  limestone 
again ;  and  analogously  if  we  delve  far  enough  into  the  history 
of  civilization,  from  three  to  five  thousand  years  before  Christ, 
we  rediscover  our  savage's  articles  of  faith. 

"Thus  the  twentieth  century  savage  enables  us  to  catch  a 
glimpse — or  more  than  a  glimpse — of  the  opinions  of  our  far- 
off  ancestors,  members  of  races  that  ripened  earlier  into  civiliza- 
tion, but  nevertheless  passed  through  the  phase  in  which  the 
savage  still  remains."  ^^ 

Savages  and  primitives.  If  there  are  any  representatives 
of  humanity  that  well  deserve  this  name,  they  are  certainly, 
in  the  opinion  of  all,  those  ISTegrillos  and  ISTegritos  of  whom 
ancient  travelers  wrote  and  whom  modern  explorers  have  lately 
rediscovered,  living,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  world  of 
scholars,  in  the  same  countries  and  the  same  conditions  as  of 
old.  Possessing  nothing,  acquainted  with  no  industry,  ignorant 
of  grazing  and  farming,  they  live  only  by  gathering  natural 
products,  by  the  hunt,  and  by  begging.  They  dwell  in  tem- 
porary encampments  and,  in  a  word,  are,  as  far  as  possible,  true 
children  of  nature.^* 

•"  Reinach,  Cults,  Myths,  and  Religions,  Introd. 

•'  Reinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  30. 

"The  following  may  be  consulted:  A.  do  Quatrefages,  The  Pygmies;  Mgr. 
A.  Le  Roy,  The  Pygmies. 

De  Quatrefages  has  applied  the  word  Negritos  to  the  Pygmies  of  Asia, 
Malasia,  and  Melanesia;  Hamy  gives  the  name  Negrillos  to  the  Pygmies  of 
Africa. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS     27 

Surely,  if  it  were  possible  to  point  out  the  ensemble  of 
these  primitives'  religious  ideas,  we  could  satisfy  the  desider- 
atum expressed  not  only  by  the  scholar  whose  words  we  have 
quoted,  but  by  all  those  who  conscientiously  seek  to  throw  light 
on  the  origins  of  humanity. 

This  is  the  attempt  we  are  going  to  make. 

During  the  twenty  years  that  I  passed  in  Africa  (1877-1896) 
on  both  coasts,  on  the  desert  frontiers  of  Tana  and  in  the 
great  equatorial  forest  of  Gabon,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting 
several  encampments  of  the  Pygmies.  I  was  their  guest,  I 
talked  with  them  and  learned  all  that  could  be  drawn  from  them.  , 
Since  then,  I  have  been  able  to  increase  these  data  by  inf«rma- 
ti#n  from  other  sources.  If  this  inquiry  has  not  been  complete, 
I  can  at  least  vouch  for  its  sincerity. 

Because  of  the  difficulty  of  access  to  our  little  men  and  the 
necessary  limitations  to  the  study  of  their  "theodicy,"  I  can 
not  flatter  myself  with  having  seen  clearly  to  the  depths  of 
their  obstinately  closed  souls.  We  will  complete  our  investiga- 
tion, determine  the  details,  and  facilitate  the  control  thereof 
by  extending  our  study  to  neighboring  and  kindred  tribes. 
These  are  better  known  and  have  already  been  studied  in  their 
chief  representatives — the  Bantus.  Since  the  time  of  Bleek 
they  have  been  called  Bantus  (personal  prefix  Ba-  and  the  rad- 
ical -Ntu,  "men"),^^  which  designates  the  linguistic  group  occu- 
pying the  greater  part  of  inhabited  Africa,  since  it  extends 
from  one  ocean  to  the  other  and  from  the  upper  valleys  of 
the  Nile  and  the  Tchad  to  the  Orange.  From  the  physical 
point  of  view,  the  Bantus  present  a  great  variety  of  types  com- 
ing from  ancient  mixtures:  in  the  north  the  Negrillos,  the 
Nigritians,  and  the  Hamites,  in  the  south  the  Bushmen  and 
Hottentots.  But  we  can  discern  a  special  characteristic  that 
distinguishes  them  from  the  Nigritians.^^ 

Comparing  with  our  life,  the  material,  social,  political,  intel- 
lectual, moral,  and  religious  conditions  in  which  these  and  kin- 
dred peoples  live,  we  note  many  important  differences  in  our 

*'Dr.  Bleek,  Comparative  Grammar  of  South  African  Languages,  1867. 
••  J.  Deniker,  The  Races  of  Man,  1900. 


28  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

favor,  and  accordingly  divide  mankind  in  two  groups:  the 
civilized  and  the  non-civilized^  i.e.,  harbarians,  savages,  prim^ 
Hives. 

Let  "US  remark  at  once  that  we  have  preferably  adopted  this 
last  word,  not  because  we  consider  it  a  perfectly  just  use  of  the 
term.  In  reality,  history  furnishes  us  no  precise  indication  as 
to  the  primitive  state  of  humanity,  and  we  nowise  intend  to 
supplement  the  data  of  history  by  any  hypotheses  whatever. 

As  Dr.  Fairbairn  writes,  ^^savage  races  are  as  ancient  as  the 
civilized  ones" — let  us  not  forget  this :  it  will  be  useful  for  our 
conclusions — "and  they  no  more  deserve  the  name  of  primitives 
thap.  we  do.''  ^'^ 

We  know  that  several  of  these  peoples  have  degeneral^d; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  several  of  them  have  known  days 
when,  materially  at  least,  they  were  less  supplied  with  tools 
than  at  present. 

So  we  are  far  from  pretending  that,  in  their  present  condi- 
tion, the  Bantus  or  even  the  Negi'illos  represent  the  primitive 
state  of  the  species.  May  we  not  conceive  humanity  advancing, 
since  its  infancy,  towards  an  ideal  which  we  will  call  integral 
civilization  and  which,  alas,  appears  somewhat  like  the  rainbow 
toward  which  children  stretch  their  hands  without  ever  reaching 
it?  But  in  this  long  procession  of  mankind  through  the  ages, 
families,  clans,  tribes,  peoples,  and  races  do  not  present  a 
straight  front ;  some  march  ahead  and  others  follow,  some  stop, 
some  retreat,  some  seem  scarcely  to  move  at  all. 

These  last  we  call  the  "primitives."  On  the  march  toward 
the  ideal,  they  set  out  from  the  point  of  departure  long  ago, 
as  long  ago  as  the  others;  but  on  the  route  some  untoward 
occasion,  some  obstacles,  some  misfortunes  have  delayed  them; 
they  have  lost  their  direction  and  perhaps  they  will  never  over- 
take us.  Undoubtedly  they  do  not  represent  humanity  exactly 
as  it  was  at  the  time  of  its  origin ;  but  of  all  the  peoples  com- 
posing the  human  race,  these  are,  nevertheless,  the  ones  who 
seem  to  give  us  the  most  reliable  image  of  the  past.^^ 

*^ Academy    (quoted   by   A.   Lang,    Myth,   Ritual  and  Religion.     2   vols. 
1899). 
"A  nation  may  have  lived  two  thousand  years  before  another  and  yet 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  EELIGIONS    29 

What  is  our  conclusion?  It  is  by  turning  to  tbese  ^'back- 
ward'' people  that,  in  all  probability,  we  have  the  best  chance, 
perhaps  not  to  discover  in  their  beliefs  and  practices  the  original 
religion,  but  at  least  to  extract  therefrom  certain  elements  that 
will  aid  us  toward  this  discovery.  At  any  rate,  we  shall  be 
on  the  very  ground  taken  by  our  adversaries. 

Sources  of  Information 

We  can  not  count  on  written  documents  of  the  primitives, 
for  they  do  not  write. 

JSTor  do  they  build  for  posterity :  no  ancient  temple,  no  tomb, 
no  wall,  no  ruin  attests  their  activity  or  transmits  their  thought. 
Like  bands  of  running  antelopes  behind  which  the  clumps  of 
tall  grass  close  in,  their  generations  succeed  one  another,  leav- 
ing no  mark  of  their  passage.  When  man  abandons  the  little 
spot  he  has  cleared  for  the  erection  of  his  shelter,  hut,  or  village, 
African  nature  soon  takes  its  place,  one  season  sufficing  to 
cover  it  with  a  young,  all-conquering  vegetation. 

We  must  understand  that  the  most  ancient  documents  rel- 
ative to  the  civilization  of  Egypt,  Babylonia,  Phoenicia,  India, 
and  China  are  many  centuries  subsequent  to  the  formation  and 
dispersion  of  the  nations.  In  the  remote  ages  when,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates,  man  traced  the  first  writ- 
ten characters  on  stone,  brick,  skin,  or  papyrus,  the  NegTillos 
and  the  Blacks  had  long  since  been  roaming  in  the  African 
forests  in  a  condition  not  unlike  that  of  to-day,  with  the  same 
conception  of  life  and  doubtless  with  the  same  religion.  We 
can,  then,  draw  from  these  ancient  inscriptions  only  scattered 
information  and  a  few  points  of  comparison. 

There  remain : 

1.  The  oral  testimony  of  the  primitives  themselves,  gathered 

represent  a  more  advanced  stage  of  civilization.  Take  an  Australian  sav- 
age of  the  present  day,  and  compare  him  with  one  of  those  Greeks  who, 
twenty-five  hundred  years  ago,  created  the  beautiful  monuments  of  Athens. 
Which  of  the  two  is  the  primitive  man?  Which  of  the  two  would  have 
the  more  rudimentary— the  more  primeval— notions  on  religion  ?  The  sav- 
age, obviously.  The  savage,  then,  is  our  principal  witness.  (Reinach,  op. 
cit.,  p.  30.) 


30  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

directly  from  their  lips  during  a  sojourn  of  twenty  years  in 
various  localities.  This  is  a  testimony  easily  controlled  and 
complemented  by  similar  inquiries  on  the  part  of  authoritative 
residents  worthy  of  belief. 

2.  The  indigenous  languages  whose  expressions  reflect  more 
or  less  adequately  the  new  or  ancient  religious  ideas  of  those 
speaking  them. 

3.  Their  various  practices — without  speaking  of  possible 
monuments,  objects,  and  institutions — which  are  related  to 
religion,  commanded  or  inspired  by  it,  practices  whose  primary 
and  true  sense  at  times  escapes  the  natives  themselves.  After 
comparison  and  induction,  these  often  throw  a  clear  light  on  the 
obscure  object  of  our  studies. 

4.  Lastly,  let  us  note  the  texts^  more  or  less  well  preserved 
by  memory  and  handed  down  from  age  to  age:  ritualistic  for- 
mulas, sacred  songs,  legends,  and  mythologies. 

What  is  a  myth?  It  is  not  a  legend,  but,  as  A.  Reville 
says,  the  two  closely  resemble  each  other. ^^  By  ^'legend"  we 
here  mean  particularly  "a  traditional,  popular,  and  marvelous 
account,  more  or  less  imaginary,  and  not  claiming  serious 
acceptance  by  enlightened  men.''  ^^^  A  myth  or  mythological 
tale  is  considered  rather  as  giving  a  real  but  marvelous  explana- 
tion of  the  origin  of  the  world,  of  the  divinity,  celestial  phe- 
nomena, and  so  forth.  In  addition,  we  may  add  that  myths  and 
legends  are  often  intermingled  and  are  to  be  found  everywhere, 
at  times  with  astonishing  analogies :  this  is  partly  what  consti- 
tutes the  new  science  of  folk-lore,  ^N^aturally  they  bear  the  im- 
pression of  each  people's  particular  genius.  Very  poor  and 
simple  among  the  E'egrillos,  more  or  less  incoherent  among  the 
Blacks;  in  Polynesia  their  developments  are  not  lacking  in 
grace,  grandeur,  and  poesy. 

^  Prolegomenes  de  Vhistoire  des  religions,  pp.  145,  162. 

^'^ Ihid.,  p.  162.  This  name  legends  {legendce)  was  first  given  to  the  lives 
of  the  saints  that  had  to  be  read  in  the  monasteries.  The  word  was  sub- 
sequently extended  to  popular  narratives  without  serious  authority. 

The  word  myth  comes  from  the  Greek  nvdos,  whose  primitive  and 
general  meaning  is  word,  utterance,  and  the  derived  meaning  fiction,  poetry, 
fable.  Mythology  (nvdo?,  "kdyoc,)  is  the  collection  of  the  religious  myths 
of  a  people,  with  their  origin  and  interpretation. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIONS    31 

Therein  we  surely  find  interesting  indications,  precious 
allusions,  traces  of  beliefs  and  ancient  practices,  from  which 
we  can  derive  much  advantage.  But,  after  all,  this  element 
of  information  is  very  uncertain. 

Who  will  separate  religion  from  the  magic,  history,  science, 
poetry,  story,  and  fancy  in  these  accounts  that  have  been 
retouched  again  and  again  ?  For  all  this  is  or  can  be  found  in 
them.  Besides,  we  would  really  be  taking  the  primitives  for 
spirits  too  naive  if  we  supposed  them  to  accept  these  fantastic 
stories  as  articles  of  faith.  In  the  evening,  about  their  fires, 
they  like  to  hear  them,  as  children  like  to  hear  stories;  they 
entertain  themselves  by  them,  they  find  their  own  mentality  in 
them,  they  gratify  their  taste  for  the  marvelous,  they  enjoy 
them  as  one  enjoys  tales  of  the  past,  and  by  them  delight  their 
imagination. 

But  it  is  not  the  expression  of  a  Cred§:  their  true  religion 
is  much  less  than  that,  and  much  more. 

IV.     Eeligion  and  Magic 

It  is  particularly  in  the  first  sources  indicated  above  that 
we  must  seek  the  constituent  elements  of  the  religion  of  the 
Negrillos  and  the  Blacks. 

But  what  is  religion?  It  is  commonly  defined  as  *^the  ser- 
vice of  God.''  It  is,  no  doubt,  by  referring  to  this  simple  yet 
sublime  and  beautiful  notion  that  travelers  and  missionaries, 
seeing  the  Blacks  do  not  "serve  God,"  have  written  that  they 
are  without  religion.  We  need,  then,  a  more  comprehensive 
definition  corresponding  to  the  order  of  thoughts,  aspirations, 
and  practices  of  our  savages. 

On  the  other  hand,  recent  philosophers  and  historians  of 
religion,  Kant,  Fichte,  Schleiermacher,  Hegel,  Auguste  Comte, 
Feuerbach,  Max  Miiller,  Tiele,  Eeville,  and  others,  have  given 
us  various  definitions.  Each  one  thinks  that  his  definition 
should  replace  the  others,  whereas  none  of  these  efforts,  accord- 
ing to  Abbe  de  Broglie,  succeeds  in  "defining  its  object."  ^^^  In 
fact,  by  an  a  priori  exclusion  of  the  supernatural  from  the 

^^^  Religimi  et  critique,  p.  12. 


32  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

world,  by  conceiving  an  ideal  religion  that  can  do  without  it, 
while  obliged  to  face  existing  religions,  none  of  which  is  indif- 
ferent to  the  supernatural,  these  scholars  leave  a  baffling  prob- 
lem to  be  solved.  "Consequently  we  have  these  definitions 
which  burst,  so  to  speak,  since  they  are  unable  to  hold  a  mass 
of  dissimilar  objects  which  they  would  like  to  embrace:"  ^^^ 
philosophy,  magic,  and  anti-religion. 

We  shall  experience  none  of  these  embarrassments. 

If  there  is  any  fact  most  certain  and  universally  acknowl- 
edged, though  formerly  held  in  dispute,  one  over  which  we 
have  no  occasion  to  pause,  it  is  that  in  the  minds  of  these  prim- 
itive peoples  there  is  another  world  distinct  from  this  tangible 
and  experimental  world  of  the  senses,  this  world  which  we 
touch,  hear,  and  employ  in  every  way :  there  is  a  supernatural 
world.  "There  are  more  things  above  us,"  an  old  African 
chief  once  said  to  me  with  an  air  of  mystery,  "than  all  the 
books  of  the  Whites  contain."  What  a  strange  and  faithful 
echo  reverberating  from  the  depths  of  the  black  continent,  of 
Shakespeare's  lines : 

"There  are  more  things  in  Heaven  and  Earth,  Horatio, 
Than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy."  ^^^ 

There  is  an  invisible  and  supernatural  ^^^  world  mingling 
with  our  visible  and  natural  world,  penetrating  it  with  its  influ- 
ence, dominating  and  ruling  it.  Is  it  possible,  useful,  necessary 
for  man  to  enter  into  relations  with  that  wfrld? 

Without  prejudging  the  basis  of  the  question,  we  can  hence- 
forth  afiirm  that  man  has   always  believed   in   it  and   acted 

^^  Religion  et  critique,  p.  29. 

^^'Hatnlet.     Act  I,  scene   15. 

104  By  "supernatural"  Catholic  theology  means,  properly  speaking,  the 
world  of  revelation  and  grace  existing  outside  of  and  above  the  exigencies 
and  possibilities  of  our  nature.  In  historic  studies  on  religions,  the  ex- 
pression "supernatural  world"  must  take  a  broader  meaning;  in  the  proper 
and  theological  acceptation  indicated  above,  it  implies  an  invisible,  supra- 
sensible  world  distinct  from  our  world,  where  real,  living,  personal,  free 
beings  exist,  with  whom  all  historic  religions  place  man  in  relation.  For 
the  sake  of  the  precision  of  language,  we  may  regret  this  extension  of  a 
word's  meaning;  we  can  not  neglect  it  in  an  historic  study,  inasmuch  as  our 
language  has  no  exact  equivalent.     Cf.  Abbe  de  Broglie,  Religion  et  critique. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTOEY  OF  RELIGIONS     33 

accordingly :  to  establish  this  fact  we  have  only  to  cast  a  glance  / 
over  the  inhabited  parts  of  the  earth.  ' 

From  this  double  conception  is  born  religion  and  its  counter-  i 
feit,  magic. 

We  can  define  religion,  considered  subjectively,  as  the  en- 
semble of  beliefs,  obligations,  and  practices  by  which  man 
recognizes  the  supernatural  world,  perfonns  his  duties  towards 
it,  and  asks  help  from  it.^^^ 

This  definition,  while  showing  us  the  nature  of  religion, 
indicates  the  essential  elements  that  compose  it. 

Everyone,  however,  does  not  thus  understand  it. 

In  the  first  place,  we  are  told,  this  definition  does  not  con- 
form to  pantheism,  which  has  no  form  of  worship,  nor  to 
magical  practices  nor  to  totemism  nor  to  the  practice  of 
"envoutement" ;  ^^^  for  in  these  cases  man  does  not  recognize  the 
supernatural  or  invisible  world  for  the  purpose  of  performing 
duties  to  it,  but  to  make  it  serve  him.  To  this  we  reply: 
Granted !  But  pantheism  and  the  different  philosophical 
theories  assimilated  to  it  are  not  religion;  they  are  philosophy. 
And  likewise  superstitious  beliefs  and  practices,  charms, 
sorcery,  etc.,  are  not  religion ;  they  are  magic. 

While  some  wish  to  extend  religion  to  w^hat  it  is  not,  others 
take  from  it  precisely  its  constituent  elements. 

"Religion,^'  writes  Marillier,  "is  not  a  collection  of  dogmatic 
affirmations  nor  of  moral  precepts ;  it  is  a  totality  of  emotional 
states,  of  feelings  and  desires  .  .  .  which  we  can  profitably 
compare  with  esthetic  emotions."  ^^'^ 

Without  fully  discussing  this  singular  theory,  let  us  say 
simply  that  it  nowise  applies  to  authenticated  reality.  "Relig- 
ious emotion"  is  not  and  can  not  be  a  primary  sentiment:  for 
one  to  be  moved,  there  is  needed  a  cause  moving  him ;  if  human- 

^*"'  Religion,  from  the  old  Latin  word  religio  or  rellegio,  its  uncertain  ety- 
mology refers  it  to  re-ligare,  "to  rebind,"  or  to  re-legere,  "to  reread,"  or  to 
re-eligere,  "to  rechoose."     Cf.  I.  L.  Gondal,  Religion,  p.  1. 

loerpj^g  practice  of  doing  harm  to  a  person  by  inflicting  injuries  on  his 
effigy.     See  also  p.  230. 

**^A.  Lang,  Myth,  Ritual,  and  Religion,  Pref. 


34  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

ity  in  its  ensemble,  at  all  times  and  places,  lias  experienced 
religious  emotion,  this  is  really  because  it  has  felt  itself  dom- 
inated by  a  supernatural  world  inspiring  this  emotion  in  it: 
'   it  is  what  we  call  dogma.^^^  Belief  has  preceded  sentiment. 

Eeligious  beliefs  do  not  remain,  like  algebra  or  geometry, 

purely  speculative :  they  impose  a  certain  direction  upon  human 

life,  they  prescribe,  forbid,  and  counsel.     By  them,  we  know 

that  some  things  are  forbidden  and  others  permitted.     This  is 

'  morality }^^ 

In  fine,  the  same  supernatural  world  wishes  that  man  should 
externally  manifest  his  deference  to  it  by  prayers,  rites,  and 
ceremonies:  i.e.,  by  worship,  for  the  public  exercise  of  which 
certain  objects,  places,  and  ministers  are  needed,  whence  a 
priesthood. 

Dogma,  morality,  worship,  and  sacerdotal  organization  are 
the  constituent  elements  of  the  great  religions  among  civilized 
peoples:  if  we  find  them  among  the  primitives,  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  recognize  them  as  a  religion. 

But  we  shall  be  exposed  to  irreparable  misunderstanding  if 
we  do  not  first  clearly  separate  religion  from  what  we  have 
already  pointed  out  as  its  counterfeit :  superstition,  mythology, 
and  magic. 

Superstition/^^  under  a  certain  religious  appearance,  sup- 
poses only  beliefs  without  an  object,  and  vain  practices.  It  can 
have,  consequently,  no  result. 

Mythology  is  of  a  speculative  order :  its  purpose  is  to  satisfy 
a  people's  curiosity  by  giving  them,  sometimes  mixed  with 
more  or  less  deformed  traditions,  marvelous  explanations  of 
unknown  things :  the  theogonies,  the  origin  of  man,  the  begin- 
ning of  the  tribe,  the  earth,  sky,  cosmic  phenomena,  animals, 
discoveries,  and  so  many  other  things.     In  mythology  there  is, 

^°*This  expression,  generally  applied  to  Christianity,  must  be  here  ex- 
tended in  the  most  general  sense  to  designate  the  sum  total  of  religious 
beliefs.  The  word  dogma  (567/ia)  comes  from  the  participle  SeSojfxhSp 
of  the  verb  6ok?w  :  what  is  authoritatively  decreed  as  the  expression  of 
the  truth. 

"*  Morality  is  the  rule  of  manners,  mores,  and  the  science  of  life. 

"**  From  super-sto. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  THE  HISTDRY  OF  EELIGIONS     35 

indeed,  a  little  of  everything:  theology,  history,  story,  legend, 
and  poetry.  Hence  the  difficulty  of  deriving  anything  of 
serious  value  from  it. 

Magic  ^^^  has  an  essentially  practical  character.    It  is  an  art,      y 
the  art  of  using  the  forces  of  nature  by  certain  occult  observ-     '' '' 
ances  with  a  religious  appearance,  or  of  courting  the  influences 
of  the   invisible  world.     Hence  it  follows  that  magic  is  the 
perversion  of  science  as  well  as  of  religion. 

Between  all  these  elements  and  religion  properly  so  called, 
there  are  fundamental  distinctions  which  the  continuation  of 
our  study  will  make  more  evident.  Because  of  failure  to  make 
these  distinctions,  a  number  of  philosophers,  historians,  and 
other  scholars,  as  also  travelers  and  even  missionaries,  have  so 
often  confused  these  matters.  Besides,  we  must  understand 
that  in  the  savage  world  these  very  elements  of  religion,  super- 
stition, and  magic  are  ordinarily  so  mingled  as  to  make  it 
difficult  to  separate  them  clearly.  Shall  we  ourselves  succeed  ? 
ISTot  always,  perhaps,  and  this  can  not  fail  to  make  us  indulgent 
towards  others. 

V.     Plan  and  Spirit  of  This  Study 

What  is  our  plan  ? 

In  the  realm  of  the  history  of  religions,  what  characterizes 
the  spirit  of  the  naturist  school,  partly  and  in  different  pro- 
portions, is,  as  has  been  said,  the  appeal  to  the  evolutionist 
theory  to  explain  the  varied  forms  of  the  "religious  phenome- 
non" ;  and  also  the  constant  pretension  of  having  recourse  only  > 
to  the  historical,  experimental,  and  comparative  method,  pro-  j 
ceeding  solely  in  the  light  of  facts. ^^^ 

Making  our  reservations  on  the  theory,  whose  appreciation 
belongs  to  philosophy  and  which  we  will  have  occasion  to  notice 
later,  we  frankly  accept  the  method  offered  us. 

We  will  study  the  question  sincerely  and  loyally,  not  avoid- 
ing but  rather  invoking  our  adversaries'  criticism,  not  making 

^  From  fiayda,    science  of  the  magicians. 

"^Abbe  C.  Piat  in  the  preface  of  Abbe  de  Broglie's  Religion  et  critique, 
Pref.,  p.  8. 


36  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

a  clever  choice  of  facts  that  suit  us,  but  setting  forth   the 
ensemble  of  beliefs,  morality,  and  worship,  not  theoretically 
gi^ouping  fragmentary   data  taken  here   and   there   from   the    /] 
reports  of  persons  unknown  to  us,  but  devoting  ourselves  to     / 
a  direct,  personal  inquiry,  dealing  with  those  primitives  weJvV 
have  known  and  visited:  the  E"egrillos  and  Bantus. 

Among  these  primitives  we  will  gather  sufficient  notions  to 
enlighten  us  in  regard  to  their  religion,  if  it  be  true  that  they 
have  one,  and  compare  them  with  those  furnished  by  other 
similar  peoples,  whether  in  our  own  times  or  in  remote  ages 
of  the  past. 

If,  in  very  moderate  proportions  and  with  a  reserve  suited 
to  our  knowledge,  which  is  manifestly  inferior  to  the  task  thus 
outlined,  we  conduct  this  inquiry  to  a  successful  issue,  we 
should  be  able  to  extricate  the  elements  of  man's  primitive 
religion. 

V 

Will  these  conclusions — for  we  must  finally  reach  them — » j 
be  contrary  to  Christianity  or  favorable  to  it?     We  shall  see:  . " 
for  the  time  being,  we  enter  upon  this  study  without  predicting 
anything  and  without  fearing  anything. 

Still  another  question.  In  the  course  of  our  exploration, 
as  long  as  the  duration  of  centuries,  as  extensive  as  the  world, 
often  uncertain,  obscure,  and  difficult,  shall  we  touch  the  fron- 
tiers of  that  supernatural  world  on  which  the  humblest  re- 
ligions rest?    Neither  can  we  announce  that  in  advance. 

If  it  does  not  manifest  itself  to  us  and  if  the  whole  ^'re- 
ligious phenomenon''  of  primitive  races  can  be  explained 
without  it,  we  will  say  so  simply,  without  concern  as  to  our 
own  beliefs.  They  are  sufficiently  solid  to  maintain  them- 
selves without  recourse  to  outside  support.  Besides,  we  re- 
main firmly  convinced  that  there  are  no  truths  against  the 
Truth. 

If,  however,  it  shall  appear  to  us  that  this  same  religion, 
in  its  ensemble  or  in  one  or  other  of  its  parts,  could  not  be  fully 
conceived  without  the  supernatural  world,  we  will  not  hesitate 
to  say  so:  and  thereby  will  this  study  be  distinguished  from 
certain  others.    If  science  has  its  heroism,  it  has  also  its  weak- 


THE  SCIENCE  OE  THE  HISTOEY  OF  EELIGIONS    37 

nesses ;  and  when,  at  the  end  of  a  painful  and  obscure  journey, 
it  happens  all  at  once  upon  a  glimpse  of  God's  presence,  why 
should  it  appear  embarrassed  and  ashamed  to  find  itself  before 
him? 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  PEIMITIYE  IN  THE  PEESENCE  OE  NATUKE 

I.     A  Preliminary  Remark.     No  obligatory  truth,  no  aggressive  free- 
thought,  no  religious  instruction. 
II.     Evolution  and  Religion.     Some  objections. 
III.     Nattjrism   and   Animism.     A   theoretical    construction.     The   Bible 

outside  the  question. 
IV.    Psychology  of  the  Primitives.     The  man-child.    Nature  and  the 

supernatural. 
V.    Nature  and  the  Supernatural.     The  powers  of  things.     Living 
and  inanimate  beings.     What  language  has  to  say.     False  inter- 
pretations. 
•  VI.     What  the  Primitive  Sees.     The  souls   of  things.     The  world  of 

things  invisible.     The  mysterious  and  sovereign  Master. 
VII.     Primitive  Data:  science,  religion,  magic.     In  the  presence  of  virgin 
nature. 

I.     A  Preliminaiiy  Remark 

When  a  missionary  goes  to  establish  himself  in  an  unex- 
plored part  of  the  black  continent,  amidst  a  tribe  he  does  not 
know,  one  of  his  first  cares  is  to  learn  the  language.  Gen- 
erally he  has  a  native  interpreter  at  his  side;  but  in  spite  of 
this  considerable  help,  for  a  while  everything  seems  confused, 
inextricable,  and  in  the  strange  sounds  that  strike  his  ears,  he 
distinguishes  neither  phrases,  syllables,  nor  words.  Prom  that 
material,  however,  he  must  make  a  grammar. 

Days  pass,  and  weeks  and  months.  Then  at  last  comes  an 
hour  when  the  grammar  is  made.  This  language  which  had 
seemed  a  mere  succession  of  inarticulate  sounds,  turns  out  to 
have  its  parts  of  speech,  its  inflections,  its  rules,  its  philosophy, 
its  beauty.  But  the  natives,  who  speak  it  with  surprising  cor- 
rectness, are  unable  to  explain  how  it  is  constructed.  It  is 
the  missionary  who  must  now  teach  it  to  them. 

Somewhat. the  same  process  takes  place  in  acquainting  one- 
self with  their  religion. 

38 


THE  PRIMITIVE  IN  THE  PEESENCE  OP  NATURE    39 

The  Christian,  or  more  exactly,  the  Catholic  possesses  a 
Credo  with  sharply  defined  limits,  and  he  has  the  priceless 
advantage  of  knowing  at  each  stage  of  his  journey  towards 
eternity  whether  he  is  on  the  right  path  or  astray.  But  notice 
this  curious  fact — the  further  we  depart  from  Catholicism, 
the  more  do  the  limits  of  belief  appear  effaced ;  they  are  quite 
so  with  the  primitives. 

There  we  find  no  religious  system  properly  so  called,  no 
dogmas  imposing  themselves,  no  defining  authority,  in  a  word 
no  obligatory  "truth,"  given  and  received  as  such:  hence  there 
are  no  discussions,  no  heresies.  Religion,  with  our  savages  of 
Africa,  is  mixed  and  identifiejd  with  everything:  with  their 
laws  and  tracTitional  customs,  feasts,  joys,  griefs,  work,  busi- 
ness, the  incidents  and  accidents  of  life.  It  is  even  hard  at 
times  to  disting-uish  it  in  practice  from  medicine,  science,  super- 
stition, and  magic.  That  is  why  we  have  no  word  to  desig- 
nate it  in  its  entirety.  We  call  it  by  the  general  name,  customs, 
meaning  what  has  been  retained  from  ancestors,  what  has 
always  been  believed  and  always  done,  what  must  be  practiced 
to  maintain  the  family,  the  village,  the  tribe,  and  if  neglected 
would  lead  to  certain  evils — as  has  often  been  observed. 

We  also  understand  that  this  element  of  uncertainty  in 
beliefs  affects  various  individuals  or  groups  unequally:  there 
are  some  very  religious  tribes  where  the  ancient  traditions  are 
relatively  well  preserved,  others  with  very  little  zeal,  and  some 
with  none  at  all.  In  fact,  each  one  takes  what  he  likes:  no- 
where in  the  world  does  "free-thought"  seem  more  sincere  than 
in  the  "savage"  country. 

But  on  certain  occasions  such  and  such  practices  are  to 
be  observed,  such  initiations,  dances,  ceremonies,  sacrifices. 
Whether  or  not  the  natives  have  any  ideas  corresponding  to 
these  external  rites  is  of  little  importance;  they  must  be  per- 
formed, and  rarely  is  there  any  inclination  to  neglect  them. 

Religious  instruction  is  likewise  transmitted  by  custom  and 
example,  especially  since  religion  is  intimately  associated  with 
the  family  and  social  life,  with  the  laws  and  with  the  necessi- 
ties of  daily  existence.     Religion  is  not  a  series  of  lessons 


40  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

imparted  by  way  of  instruction,  but  an  institution  by  wbich 
one  lives.  Exactly  this  explains  its  permanence ;  for  lessons  are 
forgotten,  while  institutions  remain. 

Particularly  at  the  initiations  of  youth  are  the  tribal  and 
family  traditions  recalled.  Undoubtedly  on  this  same  occasion 
religious  instruction  has  its  part  along  with  all  the  rest.  We 
must  say  the  same  for  the  instructions,  ceremonies,  and 
trials  of  candidates  in  the  secret  societies,  of  the  aspirants  to 
sacerdotal  functions — understood  in  the  widest  sense — of  the 
^^schools  of  fetichers,"  and  so  forth.  But,  outside  these  special 
cases  and  periods  of  initiation,  there  is  in  the  black  country  no 
religious  instruction,  properly  so  called,  no  authorized  religious 
system. 

If,  then,  in  this  study,  we  distinguish  dogma  or  belief  from 
morals,  worship,  and  other  religious  elements,  it  is  for  the 
sake  of  logic  and  clearness,  for  the  sake  of  presenting  religion 
in  its  ensemble.  Our  primitives,  less  exacting,  are  not  ac- 
quainted with  these  differences  and  are  often  incapable  of 
giving  an  account  of  them.  It  has  been  very  well  said  that 
'Vhat  these  tribes  most  lack,  at  least  the  lowest  of  them,  is 
some  resoluteness  and  firmness  in  the  imagination  itself,  a  cer- 
tain solidity  of  spirit,"  ^  on  which  a  doctrine  might  rest. 

II.     Evolution  and  Religion 

Though  often  asserted,  is  it  exact  to  say  that  man  is  the 
product  of  one  or  more  pairs  of  apes;  that  the  primate  result- 
ing from  this  union,  even  after  evolving  in  the  direction  of 
new  progress,  has  been  intellectually  and  morally  susceptible 
to  religious  ideas;  that  these  religious  ideas  have  been  very 
crude ;  and  that,  as  evidence  confirming  these  theories,  we  still 
find  the  elements  of  this  primitive  religion  in  the  religion  of 
our  present  day  savages? 

Is  all  this  exact  ?  And  must  it  necessarily  be  admitted  as  a 
definitely  ascertained  postulate,  before  beginning  the  study  of 
the  primitives  and  their  religion  ? 

We  have  briefly  answered  this  question  already. 

*Renouvier,  Philosophie  analytique  de  I'histoi/re,  p.  3. 


THE  PEIMITIVE  IN  THE  PEESENCE  OF  NATUEE     41 

1.  Though  some  scholars  understand  evolution  thus,  others 
understand  it  differently.  Some  admit  it  only  for  the  lower 
species;  others  declare  its  sole  aim  to  be,  not  indefinite  pro- 
gressive development,  but  "the  maintenance  of  the  vital  in- 
tensity of  origin";  and  still  others  deny  even  this.  In  any 
event,  no  one  has  proved  it:  evolution  remains  an  hypothesis. 
As  our  opinion  in  such  a  matter  is  not  that  of  an  authority,  let 
us  shelter  it  behind  that  of  a  scholar  who  can  not  be  suspected, 
viz.,  Virchow.  In  1890,  when  presiding  over  the  congress  of 
German  anthropological  societies  at  Vienna,  he  made  this  dec- 
laration : 

"When  we  met  at  Vienna  twenty  years  ago  .  .  .  we  shared 
the  general  expectation  that  man's  descent  from  the  ape 
or  some  other  animal  would  soon  be  proved.  ...  Up  to  the 
present,  Darwinism  has  not  fulfilled  that  hope.  All  to  no 
purpose  have  we  had  pointed  out  to  us  animals  that  were  to 
connect  the  human  species  with  the  ape:  they  failed  to  prove 
their  relationship.  The  Pro-antJiropos,  that  pretended  ancestor 
which  was  to  bridge  the  gap,  has  not  yet  been  found.  E'o 
real  scholar  claims  to  have  seen  it.  .  .  .  Someone  may  have 
caught  a  glimpse  of  it  in  a  dream,  but  once  awake  he  can  not 
say  he  has  met  it.  Even  the  hope  of  its  future  discovery  has 
quite  crumbled :  in  fact,  you  scarcely  hear  it  spoken  of  any  more. 
For  we  do  not  live  in  an  imaginary  world  of  dreams,  but  in  a 
real  actual  world  that  has  shown  itself  extremely  exigent.  .  .  . 
At  present,  all  we  know  is  that  among  the  archaic  types  of  man, 
none  has  been  found  more  closely  related  to  the  ape  than  the 
types  now  existing.  .  .  .  To-day  it  is  clear  that  among  n»n- 
civilized  tribes,  there  is  not  a  single  individual  any  closer  to 
the  ape  than  we  ourselves."  ^ 

This  testimony,  which  is  by  no  means  an  isolated  instance, 
is  sufiicient.  To  base  a  whole  religious  theory  on  an  hypothesis 
assumed  as  an  indisputable  postulate,  though  unproved,  and 
to  proclaim  this  as  the  only  good,  scientific  method,  seems  to 
require  of  the  kind  reader  a  singularly  extreme  confidence. 

'  Translated  from  the  Correspondenz  Blatt  der  deutschen  Gesellschaft  fiir 
Anthropologie,  1890  (quoted  by  S.  H.  Kellog,  The  Genesis  mid  Oroicth  of 
Religion,  p.  30). 


42  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

2.  Even  if  the  animal  origin  of  man's  body  were  to  be  scien- 
tifically established,  that  discovery  would  leave  intact  the 
question  of  the  origin  of  his  higher  faculties  and  his  religious 
and  moral  conceptions.     These  two  questions  are  quite  distinct. 

3.  And  there  is  a  third  difficulty:  even  if  that  descent  were 
proved,  it  would  not  and  could  not  have,  by  that  very  fact,  the 
effect  of  excluding  a  supernatural  intervention.  Another 
scholar,  a  confirmed  evolutionist,  Alfred  Kussel  Wallace,  rec- 
ognizes this.    When  speaking  of  Darwin,  Wallace  says: 

^^His  whole  argument  tends  to  the  conclusion  that  man's 
entire  nature  and  all  his  faculties,  whether  moral,  intellectual, 
or  spiritual,  have  been  derived  from  their  rudiments  in  the 
lower  animals,  in  the  same  manner  and  by  the  action  of  the 
same  general  laws  as  his  physical  structure  has  been  derived. 
This  conclusion  appears  to  me  not  to  be  supported  by  adequate 
evidence,  and  to  be  directly  opposed  to  many  well-ascertained 
facts.  .  .  .  Because  man's  physical  structure  has  been  de- 
veloped from  an  animal  form  by  natural  selection,  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow  that  his  mental  nature,  even  though  developed 
pari  passu  with  it,  has  been  developed  by  the  same  causes 
only."  3 

After  speaking  of  man's  higher  faculties,  he  adds: 

^'These  three  distinct  stages  of  progress  from  the  inorganic 
world  of  matter  and  motion  up  to  man,  point  clearly  to  an 
unseen  universe — to  a  world  of  spirit,  to  which  the  world  of 
matter  is  altogether  subordinate."  And  he  concludes  that,  in 
order  to  explain  the  successive  advent  of  unconscious  life,  then 
conscious,  and  finally  intellectual  and  moral  as  we  see  it  in 
man,  "we  can  find  an  adequate  cause  only  in  the  unseen  universe 
of  Spirit."  4 

4.  Let  us  continue.  In  transferring  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
law  of  evolution  from  one  realm  to  another,  from  the  realm  of 
the  physical  and  material  to  that  of  moral  things,  have  these 
men  remarked  that  these  two  worlds  are  essentially  distinct, 
that  the  principles  directing  one  do  not  necessarily  govern  the 

'A.  R.  Wallace,  Darwinism,  p.  461. 
*  Wallace,  op.  cit.,  p.  478. 


THE  PEIMITIYE  IN  THE  PEESEISTCE  OF  NATUEE    43 

other  ?  It  is  very  evident  that  the  strongest,  the  ones  best 
constituted,  best  armed  for  life's  struggle,  are  not  always  the 
finest  and  the  most  intelligent.  Similarly,  because  man  at  his 
origin  was  ignorant  of  our  modern  discoveries,  built  no  palaces, 
wore  only  rudimentary  clothes,  possessed  little  or  nothing  of 
what  constitutes  our  material  civilization,  we  can  not  conclude 
that  he  was  completely  lacking  in  intelligence,  religion,  or 
morality,  or  that  he  possessed  only  very  imperfect  elements 
thereof. 

5.  Moreover,  even  in  the  event  that  evolution  has  directed 
and  still  directs  the  religious  development  of  the  human  species 
by  necessary,  continuous,  and  unconscious  effort,  it  is  still  evi- 
dent that  evolutionists  falsely  apply  the  principle  by  confound- 
ing what  is  crudest  with  what  is  simplest.  Between  these  terms 
there  is  an  absolute  divergence.  We  understand,  for  instance, 
that  an  oak  comes  from  an  acorn;  we  do  not  understand  that 
it  comes  from  a  pebble.  That  the  first  men  had  or  must  have 
had  religious  notions  but  little  complicated,  we  do  not  deny; 
that  such  notions  were  valueless  or  even  very  crude,  must  be 
proved.  And  when  this  belief  is  imposed  on  us  a  priori,  out  of 
respect  for  the  unproved  hypothesis  of  evolution — unproved  at 
least  in  this  matter — we  reply:  ^^So  much  the  worse  for  evo- 
lution ;  let  evolution,  thus  understood,  begin  by  proving  itself !" 

III.     JSTaturism  and  Animism 

The  import  of  these  brief  reflections  is  evident.  They  do 
not  count,  however,  if  the  savage  of  to-day  "does  not  even  dis- 
tinguish the  difference  that  exists  between  the  living  being 
and  the  inanimate  object"  ^ ;  if  "all  that  moves  seems  to  him 
endowed  with  life  and  consequently  with  will"  ^ ;  if  "in  all  the 
forces  of  nature  he  sees  the  personality,  the  will,  the  conscience 
of  an  active  and  conscious  being,  similar  to  his  own  personality 
and  will"  '^ ;  for  we  shall  then  have  to  admit  either  that  the 
savage  of  to-day  is  a  degenerate,  fallen  into  intellectual  and 

"  Gustave  Le  Bon,  Les  premieres  civilisations,  p.  76. 
'  Gustave  L«  Bon,  loc.  cit. 
'  Ibid. 


44  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

moral  brutishness  concomitantly  with  his  descent  into  physical 
misery,  and  utterly  unable  to  raise  himself,  or  that  in  his 
arrested  evolution,  he  almost  represents  the  dull  brute  that  was 
our  pitiful  ancestor. 

On  this  hypothesis,  according  to  Pfleiderer, 

'^primitive  man  must  have  been  aware  neither  of  his  superiority 
over  other  animals,  nor  of  his  own  personality,  nor  of  his 
spiritual  nature;  the  original  religion  must  have  been  a  kind 
of  indistinct,  chaotic  naturism"  ^  ; 

and  the  earliest  religious  phenomena  must  have  made  their 
appearance  in  the  presence  of .  eyerj  natural  object  that  could 
provoke  in  man  a  feeling  of  reverence.  ^^  Such  is  the  definition 
of  what  it  is  agreed  to  call  I^aturism. 

Naturism,  the  first  religion  of  man,  would  be  seen,  for  ex- 
ample, in  some  parts  of  Africa.  A.  Eeville  says  so,  along  with 
Allan  Menzies  and  many  others.  It  is  even  divided  into  small 
and  large  according  as  worship  is  directed  to  stones,  mountains, 
caves,  bodies  of  water,  plants,  animals,  or  mounts  to  the  stars, 
the  sky,  sun,  moon,  and  atmospheric  phenomena.  And  in  the 
spirit  of  our  modern  craze  for  cataloging,  these  different  forms 
of  worship  are  called  litholatry,  hydrolatry,  dendrolatry, 
astrolatry,  etc. 

Hence  man,  supposing  animation  to  reside  in  all  objects  as 
he  feels  it  in  himself,  must  himself  have  placed  a  living  spirit 
in  each  of  them.  This  is  a  phase  of  animism,^^  a  theory  bril- 
liantly represented  by  Tylor  in  England  and  by  Tiele  in  Hol- 
land which  we  have  summarized  above. 

Then,  desiring  to  represent  his  god  to  himself,  to  ap- 
.proach  him  and,  so  to  speak,  appropriate  him,  man  became  a 
fetichist  ^^ ;  making  statues  or  images  for  himself  in  order  to 
place  therein  the  spirits  or  divinities  that  he  honored. 

^ Enoyclopcr.dia  Britannica,  art.  "Religions,"      (Ed.  1906,  vol.  20,  p.  379.) 

'  Louis  H.  Jordan,  Co'niparaiiiye  Religion,  p.  536. 

*°  From  anima/re  or  animiis. 

"  From  the  Portuguese  fetico,  a  natural  object  divinized,  a  name  given 
by  the  first  navigators  of  the  African  coast  and  introduced  into  science  by 
the  Pl-esident  de  Brosses,,  author  of  Culte  des  dicux  fetiches  (1760).  The 
Portuguese  vi^ord  is  related  to  the  Latin  faoticius,  faoere. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  IN  THE  PEESENCE  OF  NATUEE    45 

Another  step  would  have  brought  liim  to  idolatry ^^  which 
consists  in  the  adoration  of  the  image  representing  the  different 
divinities  of  his  pantheon:  whence  we  would  also  have  poly- 
theism}^ 

At  length,  as  his  intelligence  became  gradually  enlightened 
and  his  conscience  refined,  he  Avould  have  multiplied  his  gods 
until  they  became  lost  in  a  universal  pantheism/*  or  vanished 
before  the  need  of  a  personal,  sole,  and  sovereign  God. 

Will  he  stop  there  ?  No.  By  a  prodigious  advance,  science, 
^'the  true  science,"  a  stranger  to  everything  supernatural,  will 
conduct  him  in  one  leap  to  the  material  conception  of  the  uni- 
verse, to  the  sole  adoration  of  nature,  humanity,  and  self:  so 
that,  as  Weiss  ^^  remarks,  the  history  of  religions  thus  under- 
stood, could  be  well  represented  by  the  familiar  emblem  of  "the 
serpent  biting  its  own  tail.'' 

Assuredly  all  this  exposition  is  not  to  be  rejected  en  masse. 
Presented,  as  it  is,  under  the  form  of  a  necessary  process, 
uniform  and  constant,  it  is  first  of  all  an  ideal,  theoretical 
construction  growing  out  of  the  European  spirit.  Without 
entering  into  a  detailed  consideration  of  the  replies  that  might 
be  made  to  the  naturists  and  animists,  we  may  simply  rely  on 
what  Durkheim  himself  says  of  their  common  character  and 
declare  that  neither  is  acceptable.  Both  of  these  theories  seek 
to  derive  the  notion  of  sacredness  from  things  and  events  of 
immediate  experience,  at  first  appearing  altogether  profane. 
But,  as  the  sacred  can  not  come  from  the  profane,  the  laborious 
mechanism  by  which  it  is  pretended  to  trace  such  a  derivation 
is  founded  on  an  illusion,  born,  as  Tylor  remarks,  of  an  intem- 
perate imagination,  or  according  to  Max  Mliller,  a  disease  of 
language  (i.e.,  of  thought).  In  either  case,  religion  would  be 
nothing  more  than  a  system  of  false  and  hallucinatory  ideas. 
It  would  be  merely  the  realization  of  a  dream;  and  we  could 
explain  its  long  duration  only  by  recognizing  in  its  permanence 
the  effect  desired  by  clever  priestly  policy.      Such   an  idea, 

"  Adoration  of  graven  images   (  eiScoXov,  'Karpela  ) . 
"A  system  that  admits  a  plurality  of  gods  {koKvc,,  •^Eog)- 
"God  constituted  by  the  universality  of  beings    (jtav,  •&E65). 
"Le  'peril  religieux. 


46  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

familiar  to  the  eighteenth  century,  can  not  be  accepted  to-day. 
It  is  altogether  inadmissible  that  religious  beliefs  have  no 
objective  value  and  that  sacred  objects  are  but  imaginary  ideas 
whose  nature  and  powers  are  unreal.^  ^ 

We  can  not  adopt  these  theories.  E'ot,  as  might  perhaps 
be  supposed,  because  in  their  ensemble  they  embarrass  us  by 
their  opposition  to  Biblical  tradition ;  the  Bible  is  here  outside 
the  question.  In  fact,  if  Genesis  teaches  us  that  the  first  human 
couple  were  created  in  a  state  of  supernatural  innocence — which 
their  knowledge  of  duty  to  God  presupposes — it  tells  us  also 
that  they  ^^fell.''  Through  their  own  fault,  they  lost  that  orig- 
inal perfection.  Then  we,  their  descendants  spread  over  the 
earth,  are  fully  justified  in  thinking  that  at  least  certain  of 
these  first  human  groups  might  have  passed  through  deep 
physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  misery,  before  reaching  the 
degrees  of  ancient  civilization  of  which  we  find  traces  to-day. 

If,  then,  we  do  not  acknowledge  the  portraits  in  question 
as  authentic,  it  is  because  the  "savages"  of  to-day,  however 
wretched,  are  not  the  ones  thus  depicted  for  us.  There  are 
some,  it  is  true  (and  I  have  met  them),  who  find  it  difficult  to 
count  up  to  3,  4,  and  5 :  an  embarrassment  not  experienced  by 
"clever"  dogs.  Yes:  but  that  difficulty  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  intelligence  of  these  poor  people  was  never  trained,  even 
a  little,  in  arithmetic.  Their  minds,  less  incompetent  in  other 
matters,  even  in  arithmetic  need  only  exercise. 

IV.     The  Psychology  of  the  Primitive 

This  reflection  leads  us  to  a  short  examination  of  the  primi- 
tives^ psychology  as  we  ourselves  have  observed  it. 

Despite  his  intense  vegetative  life,  his  animal  instincts,  and 
his  dense  intellect,  the  primitive  is  first  and  foremost  a  man, 
with  all  the  passions,  aspirations,  energies,  weaknesses,  and 
preoccupations  of  a  man;  in  short,  nothing  resembles  his  soul 
so  closely  as  our  soul.  Are  not  barbarism  and  civilization, 
after  all,  easily  interchangeable  states  ? 

Our  primitive  is  a  man.     But  he  is  a  man  who  has  kept,  in 

"E  Durkheim,  in  the  Revue  de  pMlosophie,  May  1,  1907.. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  NATURE     47 

varying  quantity  according  to  race,  family,  and  even  individual, 
the  infantile  characteristics  of  the  species:  not  only  from  the 
physical  point  of  view,  but  especially  the  intellectual  and  moral 
points  of  view.     He  is  a  man-child. 

By  reason  of  his  plastic  nature,  the  environment  in  which 
he  lives  exercises  an  undeniable  influence  upon  him :  even  from 
the  religious  point  of  view,  the  Black  of  the  vast,  almost  desert 
steppes  is,  for  example,  different  from  the  Black  of  the  dense 
equatorial  forests;  the  shepherd,  the  fisherman,  the  warrior, 
the  farmer,  the  nomad,  the  settler,  all  differ  from  one  another. 

But,  in  general,  regarding  existence  as  he  would  a  cocoanut, 
the  primitive  makes  use  of  it  from  day  to  day,  without  preoc- 
cupation and  without  aim.  Nothing  surprises  him,  and  the 
inquiry  into  primary  causes  is  a  matter  of  utter  indifference 
to  him.  To  reason  about  everything,  to  analyze  and  demon- 
strate everything,  to  penetrate  everywhere,  to  delve  into  the 
earth  or  mount  to  the  heavens,  seem  to  him  quite  profitless  occu- 
pations. Perhaps  he,  too,  addresses  many  "why's"  to  himself. 
But  he  does  not  wait  long  for  an  answer :  the  first  that  comes 
suits  him  well  enough. 

His  will  is  wanting  in  balance,  constancy,  and  harmony.  It 
is  especially  for  this  reason  that  the  Black  has  remained  in 
the  inferior  situation  where  we  see  him.  He  lacks  what  goes 
to  make  a  man :  character.  Having  no  taste  for  useless  effort, 
he  is  called  apathetic.  As  a  child  of  nature,  he  depends  largely 
upon  this  mother.  If  she  fails  him  at  times,  he  is  not  angry 
at  her :  no  one  accepts  the  inevitable  more  readily  than  he. 

Credulous  he  certainly  is.  But  his  credulity  is  like  all  his 
qualities,  never  very  deep.  He  is  suspicious,  always  on  his 
guard;  not  so  naive  as  one  might  suppose — easy  to  deceive, 
perhaps,  but  not  for  long.  In  Africa,  the  social  state  depends 
upon  mutual  exploitation,  as  everywhere  else.  Since  the 
Europeans  have  penetrated  his^country  to  bring"^ ^civilization'' 
to  him,  that  regime  of  exploitation  has,  of  course,  been  shifted, 
enlarged,  and  intensified;  but,  after  all,  the  more  exploited  of 
the  two  is  not  always  the  one  you  might  suppose. 

The  Black  loves  to  laugh  and  takes  things  good  naturedly. 
But  it  would  be  wrong  to  suppose  him  indifferent.     He  knows 


48  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

how  to  appreciate  a  good  turn,  is  faithful,  devoted,  generous, 
and  loves  what  he  loves.  Yet  withal  he  has  terrible  recurrences 
of  evil  instincts.  He  is  quite  capable  of  deep  dissimulation, 
has  no  pity  for  weakness,  and  is  subject  to  fits  of  abominable 
cruelty.  But  contrary  to  what  is  sometimes  supposed,  he  is 
extremely  sensitive  to  injustice,  wrongs,  humiliations,  or  in- 
juries to  his  self-love.  On  the  outskirts  of  the  equatorial 
marshes,  there  are  certain  thorny  clumps  of  sensitive  plants 
that  remain  unaffected  by  most  severe  storms;  but  let  them 
be  hit  with  the  stick  of  a  passer-by,  you  will  see  them  suddenly 
draw  in  their  trembling  foliage  as  if  they  felt  themselves 
bruised  and  wounded  in  their  innermost  delicate  nature.  The 
Black  is  somewhat  like  these  mimosa  thickets. 

Leaving  aside  all  theories  and  taking  our  primitives  for 
what  they  are,  if  we  try  to  learn  their  general  attitude  towards 
the  "religious  phenomenon,"  it  seems  to  us  that  the  best  means 
of  doing  so  will  be  first  to  place  them  face  to  face  with  those 
two  worlds  with  which  we  are  in  relation :  nature  and  the  super- 
natural, united  by  that  mysterious  bridge  called  Death,  a  bridge 
over  which  we  all  must  pass  some  day. 

The  study  of  these  two  worlds  and  the  conception  formed  of 
them  constitute  the  very  study  of  the  religion  of  the  primitive. 

V.     IN'ature  and  the  Supeenatueal 

First  of  all,  then,  what  is  nature?  The  primitive  is  not  a 
philosopher.  Very  simply  he  admits  what  he  sees  and  does 
not  weary  his  mind  by  the  investigation  of  causes.  He  is  a 
positivist  in  the  sense  that  he  observes  a  fact,  finds  or  does 
not  find  an  explanation  of  it,  and  troubles  himself  very  little 
with  trying  to  combine  theories  or  abstract  the  quintessence 
of  things.  However,  he  loves  unconsciously  perhaps  but  no  less 
certainly  that  nature  which  he  approaches  the  more  closely  in 
proportion  as  he  is  less  civilized ;  he  enjoys  it  and  gladly  returns 
to  it  if  he  has  been  obliged  to  leave  it  for  a  while.  Does  he, 
then,  deceive  himself  so  much  as  we  say,  when  he  believes  that 
it  lives,  breathes,  sings,  sleeps,  changes  its  appearance,  is  born, 
develops,  suffers,  and  dies  in  each  of  its  countless  elements? 


THE  PEIMITIVE  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  NATUEE     49 

All  this  escapes  an  animaFs  observation  because  it  is  an  animal ; 
but  it  does  not  escape  the  observation  of  the  primitive,  because 
he  is  a  man.  Why  does  the  wind,  that  we  can  not  grasp,  now  so 
mild  and  now  so  terrible,  cool  our  face  and  make  the  forest 
tremble?  Why  does  the  seed  come  forth,  here  growing  into 
grass  and  there  into  a  tree  ?  Why  does  the  fire,  springing  from 
the  stone  or  the  dry  wood,  warm  our  body  and  devour  whatever 
we  throw  into  it?  Why  do  certain  fruits  nourish  us  while 
others  poison  us?  Why  all  these  powers,  all  these  contrasts, 
why  all  this  that  we  see  ? 

The  primitive  answers  himself  simply:  If  water  flows,  if 
fire  burns,  if  the  stone  remains  in  its  place,  if  the  spark  springs 
forth  from  the  tinder-box,  if  such  a  bark  cures  and  such  another 
kills,  if  the  seed  springs  up,  the  bird  flies,  and  the  monkey  \ 
steals,  that  is  because  ^^it  is  their  manner.''  Everything  has  its 
"manner." 

In  all  things  there  are  hidden  powers,  secret  properties,  mys- 
terious ' 'manners"  peculiar  to  each  of  them,  that  we  can  utilize, 
turn  to  account,  neutralize:  everything  is  in  knowing  how. 
The  Whites  have  their  own  methods,  the  Blacks  theirs.  Thus 
it  is  that,  by  observations  and  hypotheses,  often  incomplete, 
defective,  and  ridiculous,  the  primitive  makes  a  beginning  in 
science;  after  noticing  the  action  of  the  immanent  forces  of 
nature  and  feeling  himself  face  to  face  with  them  in  a  variable 
attitude  that  makes  him  now  conqueror  and  now  conquered, 
he  has  conceived  the  idea  of  turning  them  to  his  own  advan- 
tage. His  attempts  shov^  him  day  after  day  that  he  is  not  com- 
pletely mistaken.  If  strychnos  is  poisonous,  if  the  cola-nut 
gives  strength  for  a  long  march,  if  coffee  keeps  him  awake,  why 
not  suppose  an  alligator's  gall,  a  lion's  paw,  or  a  leopard's  beard 
has  specific  effects  equally  powerful  ? 

In  our  opinion,  that  is  the  idea  which  inspires  a  great  num- 
ber of  remedies,  preventives,  recipes,  amulets,  and  various 
superstitions  employed  in  all  the  exigencies  of  life  and  against 
all  the  dangers  that  threaten :  sickness,  hunger,  drought,  famine, 
serpents,  the  arrows  of  the  enemy,  and  so  forth.  Similarly 
there  are  omens,  auguries,  divination  by  lot,  the  curative  or 
preventive  powers  of  certain  movements  and  formulas. 


50  THE  RELIGIOj^  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

All  this  is  based  on  the  view  that  visible  nature,  of  which 
man  is  a  part,  contains  immanent,  mysterious,  and  powerful 
forces  that  dominate  and  at  times  crush  us,  but  which  we  can 
also  seize  and  master. 

But  is  this  really  a  religious  conception? 

To  push  our  inquiry  still  further.  It  seems  as  if  the  sight 
of  the  sky,  the  great  atmospheric  phenomena,  storms  and  light- 
ning, have  produced  and  still  produce  a  profoimd  impression 
on  the  mind  of  the  primitive. 

We  have  already  hinted  at  the  error  here.  For  the  savage, 
nature  in  her  manifestations,  great  as  well  as  small,  proceeds 
in  a  certain  fashion:  while  these  manifestations  are  pro- 
duced normally,  he  does  not  notice  them.  Of  what  use 
would  it  be? 

When  a  child  is  traveling  in  a  train,  he  joyfully  lets  himself 
be  carried  along  without  wondering  how  the  cars  roll  by  them- 
selves on  the  long  steel  rails ;  but  let  a  sudden  stop  take  place, 
a  crash  be  heard,  an  unusual  whistle  blow  like  a  cry  of  alarm, 
he  is  the  first  to  ask  an  explanation.  It  is  partly  the  same  with 
the  primitive  in  regard  to  the  immense  machinery  of  the  world. 
While  it  works  without  other  incident  than  the  customary 
alterations,  he  regards  it  with  confidence  and  has  no  other  care 
than  to  let  it  go  on. 

But  if  something  unusual  or  simply  unforeseen  happens 
about  him,  either  on  the  earth  or  in  the  sky,  if  the  sun  burns 
the  plants  by  its  exceptional  heat,  if  the  sky  holds  back  the 
beneficent  rain,  if  a  comet  appears,  if  an  eclipse  threatens  to 
cover  the  sun  or  moon  forever,  at  such  provocation  his  mind 
begins  to  work,  he  is  disturbed,  he  seeks  an  explanation  and 
finds  it;  then,  by  prayers  and  sacrifices,  he  prepares  to  ward 
off  the  impending  evils.  Yet  we  would  not  be  justified  in  say- 
ing that  these  facts  reveal  a  worship  of  the  stars.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  moon,  its  contrast  with  the  sun,  its  changes,  its 
mildness  and  brightness,  the  faithfulness  with  which  it  meas- 
ures time,  the  sort  of  serene  kindness  with  which  it  presides 
for  whole  nights  oyer  his  dances  and  feasts  at  the  sound  of  the 
tam-tam,  the  chance  it  gives  a  traveler  to  enjoy  the  refreshing 
coolness  along  the  little  footpaths  where  it  casts  its  light,  all 


THE  PRIMITIVE  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  NATURE     51 

that  makes  it  a  "friend."    And  the  primitive  goes  along  happily 
'per  arnica  silentia  lunae. 

He  does  not  ''adore"  it  any  more  than  he  does  the  sun  or 
stars;  hut  he  is  happy  to  greet  its  return,  he  is  alarmed  at 
the  dangers  threatened  by  an  eclipse,  and  he  attests  a  sort  of 
distant  gratefulness  to  it  for  all  the  services  it  renders  to  him.  a 

Yet  the  primitive,  like  a  child,  does  not  want  to  delay  before  ^ 
the  numerous  "why's"  that  of  their  own  accord  present  them-  \ 
selves  to  his  mind.  He  answers  them  according  to  his  particu-  '' 
lar  mentality;  and  he  makes  up  stories  about  the  stars,  about 
the  animals,  about  everything.  These  stories  are  repeated  in 
the  evening  about  the  common  household  fire  or  in  the  village 
forum.  Among  the  Fans  of  Gabon,  for  example,  the  story  goes 
that  in  the  beginning  the  sun  and  moon  were  married:  the 
stars  are  their  children.  They  feed  on  fire,  and  that  is  why  they 
shine.  But  once  the  moon  was  unfaithful  and  deserted  the  con- 
jugal fireside.  As  soon  as  the  sun  perceived  this,  he  entered 
into  so  violent  a  rage  that  the  frightened  stars  fled  to  all  parts 
of  the  sky  and  thenceforth,  desperately  and  untiringly,  the  sun 
pursues  his  family.  But  the  latter,  as  soon  as  they  see  him 
appear  on  the  horizon,  quickly  conceal  themselves  in  their  huts 
on  high.  When  the  sun  has  traversed  all  that  part  of  the 
firmament  which  is  over  our  heads,  he  passes  back  by  the  other 
side  without  stopping  a  single  day.  Scarcely  has  he  disap- 
peared from  sight,  when  you  see  the  moon  appear,  now  here, 
now  there,  for  she  often  changes  her  hiding  place  to  throw 
her  spouse  off  the  scent.  As  soon  as  she  is  free,  she  hastens 
to  the  midst  of  her  children,  the  stars,  like  a  good  mother 
and  visits  them  one  after  the  other,  going  from  hut  to  hut. 
No  sooner  does  the  sun  appear  again  at  the  other  side  of  the 
earth,  than  she  escapes  with  all  her  children  except  one,  always 
the  same,  who  both  morning  and  evening  remains  there  to  act 
as  sentry  and  warn  her.     And  the  pursuit  continues. ^''^ 

With  these  stories  and  others  like  them,  primitive  man  re- 
lieves the  solitude  of  his  evenings  and  gives  a  simple  and  not 
uninteresting  explanation  of  the  phenomena  that  he  can  not 
elucidate.     But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  him  the  dupe 

"  Trilles,  Proverhes,  Ugendea  et  contes  fdns,  p.  123. 


52  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

of  these  stories.  It  is  his  poetry.  Would  it  not  be  an  exag- 
geration to  call  that  poetry  a  religion?  Assuredly  the  most 
stupid  savage  does  not  believe  that  the  sun  is  really  a  man,  the 
moon  really  a  woman,  stars  really  their  children,  the  lightning 
a  big  bird,  the  thunder  an  animal.  He  says  all  that,  no  doubt : 
but  it  is  a  ^'manner  of  talking."  Have  we  not  also  our  tales 
and  legends?  Do  we  not  always  find  the  unusual  and  mar- 
velous interesting?  When  our  children  ask  us  to  tell  them 
some  ^'stories,''  are  they  not  manifesting  their  taste  and  show- 
ing what  little  importance  they  attach  to  the  question  of 
authenticity?  Very  well,  the  taste  of  the  primitives  is  quite 
similar.  Although  their  ^'stories"  are  very  interesting  to  such 
as  know  how  to  find  what  they  contain,  still  from  the  point  of 
view  of  language,  tribal  affinities,  a  more  or  less  remote  past, 
certain  traditions,  usages,  and  even  beliefs  and  religious  or 
magical  practices,  we  can  draw  nothing  serious  from  the  fact 
that  these  narratives  accidentally  personify  the  beings  and  ob- 
jects that  enter  into  them. 

These  accidental  personifications  belong  to  the  very  essence 
of  such  compositions  and  in  themselves  have  no  religious  sig- 
nification properly  so  called;  it  is  rather  the  life  of  the  tribe 
transferred  by  imagination  to  the  life  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 

)>  But  there  is  an  unconscious  expression  of  a  people's  men- 
tality, namely  their  language.  Might  not  this  supply  some 
data  for  us?  The  Bantu  tongues,  which  belong  to  the  agglu- 
tinative ^^  type,  have  no  grammatical  distinction  of  gender 
according  to  sex.  Instead  of  being  divided  into  masculine  and 
feminine,  the  nouns  are  divided  into  classes  according  to  the 
different  categories  of  beings  that  are  found  in  nature  itself; 
hence  the  vocabulary  of  these  people  resembles  a  subject  catalog 
of  persons  and  things.  These  various  classes  or  categories  are 
characterized  by  prefixes  which  pass  from  nouns  to  all  the 
variable  words  depending  on  them,  thus  marking  inflections. 

The  first  class  is  that  of  living  things,  often  subdivided  into 
rational  and  non-rational.     Into  this  class  are  placed  all  the 

"  I.  e.,  in  which  affixed  elements  are  joined  to  a  root  to  form  a  word  or 
to  change  the  meaning.  The  other  fundamental  types  are  the  monosyU 
lahio,  as  the  Chinese,  and  the  flectional,  as  Greek,  Latin,  etc. 


THE  PEIMITIVE  IN  THE  PEESENCE  OF  NATUEE     53 

names  of  beings  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  movement  and 
life. 

The  other  classes  include  all  the  remaining  names  of  beings, 
prescinding  from  this  double  characteristic.  Thus  we  have 
the  class  of  common  nouns,  the  class  of  nouns  indicating  beings 
that  have  increased,  another  class  of  diminutives,  a  class  of 
abstract  and  of  collective  nouns,  another  class  of  place  names. 

An  example  taken  from  the  Swahili  (of  Zanzibar),  but 
which  might  equally  well  be  extended  to  all  the  Bfntu  lan- 
guages, will  show  how  these  classes  are  determined.  Let  us 
take  the  word  mu-toto,  ^'child''  (a  living,  animated,  rational 
being) . 

mu-toto  a-dya^  the  child  comes  (the  prefix  mu  with  the  inflection 
a  denotes  a  living,  animated  being). 

dyi-toto  a-dyaj  the  big  child  comes  (the  prefix  dyi  indicates  the 
large  size,  the  inflection  a  indicates  the  quality  of 
being  alive). 

hi-toto  a-dyaj  the  little  child  comes  (the  prefix  lei  is  diminu- 
tive). 

u-toto  u-dya^^  childhood  comes  (the  prefix  u  indicates  abstrac- 
tion, and  as  childhood^  in  so  far  as  it  is  an  abstract  * 
noun,  is  not  a  living  thing,  the  inflection  u  will 
not  be  that  of  living  beings). 

Another  example: 

The  good  man  falls,      murtu  niu-zwri  a-anguJca 

The   good   bird   falls,     n-ndege  7i-zuri  a-anguka 

(living  beings  characterized  by  the  prefix  a). 

The   good   tree   falls,      mu-ti  mu-zuri  u-a7iguJca 

The   good    seat   falls,     ki-ti  ki-zuri  kirangiika 

The  good  water  falls,      ma-dyi  ina-ziiri  ya-amgiika 

(inanimate  objects  of  difl'erent  characters  specified  by  their  pre- 
fixes and  inflections). 

By  the  language  they  speak,  it  is  easy  to  apprehend  with 
which  category  of  beings  the  Bantus  classify  the  different 
elements  of  creation.     But,  for  them,  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  as 

"  In  fact,  they  would  say  w-Or-dya,  w  or  u  being  the  connective,  a  mark- 
ing the  present  indicative. 


54  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

well  as  the  air,  the  earth,  the  woods,  minerals,  are  beings  with- 
out life  or  movement  and  classed  as  such  even  though,  in  a 
marvelous  story,  they  may  be  personified.  All  this  clearly  shows 
they  are  not  considered  in  themselves  as  living,  animated 
beings. 

We  have  another  confirmatory  sign.  Some  words  are  applied 
equally  to  both  animate  and  inanimate  beings.  When  desig- 
nating the  latter,  they  take  the  inflection  of  inanimate  things ; 
but  wheii  designating  the  former,  the  inflection  changes,  be- 
coming that  of  living  beings,  and  by  this  very  fact  changing 
the  character  of  the  thing  signified.  Such,  for  instance,  is 
the  word  pepo,  which  may  mean  either  whid  or  spirit  (gen- 
erally a  had  spirit)  :  when  meaning  wind,  it  will  take  the 
inflection  of  inanimate  things  (pepo  i^ya,  the  wind  comes)  ; 
but  when  it  means  spirit,  it  requires  the  connective  of  animate, 
living  beings  {pepo  a-dya,  the  spirit  comes). 
/  We  must  therefore  conclude  that,  far  from  considering 
nature  as  "organized  on  the  same  plan  in  all  its  parts,"  the 
Bantus,  and  likewise  all  the  Blacks,  regard  it,  on  the  contrary, 
as  composed  of  hierarchical  series,  placed  one  above  the  other. 
'Not  only  do  they  know  enough  to  make  a  difference  between 
"the  living"  and  "the  inanimate,"  but  this  distinction  is  the 
very  basis  of  their  language  and  consequently  of  their  most 
authentic  conceptions. 

Nor  may  we  admit  under  the  general  and  absolute  form  in 
which  it  presented,  that  other  view  of  Tylor,  which  Abbe 
Bros  and  many  others  confidently  accept,  namely  that 

"to  the  lower  tribes  of  man,  sun  and  stars,  trees  and  rivers, 
winds  and  clouds,  become  personal,  animate  creatures,  leading 
lives  conformed  to  human  or  animal  analogies,  and  perform- 
ing their  special  functions  in  the  universe  with  the  aid  of  limbs 
like  beasts  or  of  artificial  instruments  like  men;  or  what  men's 
eyes  behold  is  but  the  instrument  to  be  used  or  the  material  to 
be  shaped,  while  behind  it  there  stands  some  prodigious  but  yet 
half-human  creature,  who  grasps  it  with  his  hands  or  blows  it 
with  his  breath."  ^o 

'"Edward  B.  Tylor,  Primitive  Civilization.  Abbe  Bros,  La  religion  des 
peuples  non  oivilis4s,  p.  51. 


THE  PEIMITIVE  IN  THE  PEESENCE  OF  NATURE    55 

These  assertions  wliicli  appear  so  strange  to  any  one  wlio 
knows  and  has  studied  the  Blacks,  are  due  to  a  false  interpre- 
tation of  the  stories,  legends,  and  mythologies  reported  by 
travelers. 

Finally,  were  such  beliefs  or  suppositions  really  those  of 
our  primitives,  this  discoverj  would  advance  us  very  little: 
for  is  it  not,  in  fact,  scientific  rather  than  religious  ?  And  if 
we  wished  to  show  that  their  religion  began  in  that  manner,  we 
would  have  to  prove  that  religion,  at  its  beginning,  consisted 
and  still  consists  only  of  these  simple  factors:  but  this  is  not 
proved  and  never  will  be. 

VI.     What  the  Primitive  Sees  in  Nature 

In  brief,  what  is  the  opinion  which  our  Blacks  have  of 
nature  ? 

The  most  exact  answer  to  this  question  is  that  many  of  them,  j 
perhaps  most  of  them,  do  not  think  about  it  at  all. 

However,  in  the  depths  of  their  souls,  less  simple  than  we 
think,    are   latent   ideas,    subconscious,   unreasoned,   which   on 
occasion  spontaneously  awake,  as  it  were,  and  translate  them-   . 
selves  with  surprising  accuracy. 

In  the  first  place,  nature,  in  the  multitudinous  manifesta- 
tions under  which  it  appears  to  our  senses,  takes  the  form  of 
a  hierarchy,  distinct  categories  each  of  which  has  its  place, 
with  its  specific  qualities  and  its  purpose.  It  has  also,  if  you 
will  excuse  the  impropriety  of  the  terms,  its  families  and  tribes. 

As  in  the  human  species,  which  the  primitive  unconsciously 
uses  as  the  type  of  all  the  others,  each  one  has  its  ^'manner'' 
and  its  sex. 

Its  '^manner" :  that  is  its  own  distinctive  nature,  determined 
for  each  of  the  beings  constituting  the  species  by  a  certain  > 
form,  to  use  the  scholastic  expression,  or,  if  you  prefer,  a  cer- 
tain soul.  But  it  is  an  inert  soul  in  lifeless  things,  a  living 
soul  in  the  plant,  a  feeling  soul  in  the  animal,  a  reasoning  soul 
in  man,  a  phenomenal  soul  in  the  cosmic  elements,  a  terrestrial 
soul  in  the  earth,  a  celestial  soul  in  the  sky,  a  universal  soul 
in  the  universe. 


56  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Its  sex  is  its  faculty  of  reproduction  in  consequence  of  tKe 
cooperation  (active  and  passive)  of  two  elements,  one  male, 
the  other  female.  Thus  it  happens  that  in  Loango  the  ocean 
is  considered  as  an  active,  male  principle,  for  from  it  comes 
the  rain  that  falls  on  the  earth  which  is  the  passive  female 
principle,  and  makes  it  fertile.  ^^ 

So  much  for  visible  and  material  nature.  All  the  '^souls" 
that  give  things  their  "manner'^  which  specifically  distin- 
guishes them  and  makes  them  what  they  are,  all  these  souls 
''die"  with  them — souls  of  minerals,  plants,  and  animals.  But 
the  same  is  not  the  case  with  souls  that  animate  rational  be- 
ings, i.e.,  men.  These  souls  survive  in  another  world,  the 
invisible  and  supernatural.  Accustonied  to  live  in  a  body, 
these  disembodied  souls  aspire  to  reenter  them:  hence  we  feel 
their  presence  or  activity  at  times  in  children  of  their  family 
and  this  is  how  we  explain  the  convulsions  of  new-born  infants 
and  their  resemblance  to  their  parents.  At  other  times,  they 
take  their  abode  in  animals  related  to  them  by  totemic  alliance, 
in  certain  trees  or  caves,  in  a  word,  everywhere  that  their  des- 
tiny determines.  This  has  sometimes  been  called  metenso- 
matosis.^^ 

Besides  these  souls  of  human  origin,  there  are  other  spirits 
or  genii,  some  good,  protecting  us ;  others  more  or  less  indiffer- 
ent; still  others  wicked,  wandering  in  space,  favoring  such  or 
such  a  spot,  or  amusing  themselves  by  producing  various 
phenomena. 

There  is  the  invisible  mysterious  world,  distinct  from  the 
other,  but  always  concerned  in  its  different  manifestations. 

'Now  we  can  see  why  the  primitives  so  easily  animatize 
things,  attributing  to  them  qualities  and  feelings  more  or  less 
human  in  their  tales  and  stories,  in  their  simple  reflections, 
and  especially  in  their  legends  and  mythologies. 

We  see,  too,  why  natural  phenomena,  particularly  when 
they  have  the  appearance  of  being  directed  in  a  conscious 
manner,  as  whirlwinds,  hurricanes,  and  cyclones,  or  when  they 

^  R.  E.  Dennett,  At  the  Back  of  the  Black  Man's  Mind,  p.  105. 
^B.   de   la   Grasserie,   Les  religions  compar4es  au  point  de  vue  socio- 
logique.     From  /icrd,   ivith,  ev,  in,  o-co/ia,  iody   (change  of  body). 


THE  PKIMITIYE  IN  THE  PEESENCE  OF  NATUEE    57 

have  an  unexpected  and  extraordinary  character,  are,  with  the 
same  facility,  attributed  to  beings  of  the  other  world — manes, 
genii,  or  other  spirits. 

And  we  see  why,  in  the  native  belief,  these  spirits  who 
abound  in  the  world  of  the  invisible  can  at  pleasure  seize  upon 
all  that  we  see,  assume  its  form,  and  make  use  of  it. 

This  idea,  which  in  part  is  inexact  only  because  it  is  applied 
indiscriminately,  coexists  with  another  still  more  general,  more 
profound,  more  intimate,  and,  I  dare  say,  more  delicate. 

A  child,  when  it  does  not  feel  itself  at  home,  appears  at  first 
timid  and  reserved. 

It  is  the  same  with  an  animal,  not  only  domestic  animals, 
like  the  dog,  but  the  wild  ones  also.  When  the  leopard  is  sur- 
prised in  the  enclosure  that  shelters  the  flock,  its  first  move- 
ment is  to  scamper  away  like  a  thief  caught  in  a  flagrant  act 
of  plundering. 

A  like  feeling  is  to  be  observed  in  the  depth  of  the  primi- 
tive's soul  in  the  presence  of  nature.  These  deep  forests,  so 
silent,  dark,  cold,  and  full  of  mystery,  these  majestic  moun- 
tains where  the  clouds  pass  and  repass,  these  immense  plains, 
these  free  herds  of  beasts,  these  trees,  flowers,  fruits,  plants, 
bodies  of  water,  all  the  world  in  fact,  to  whom  do  they 
belong  ? 

To  whom?  To  that  spirit  of  the  earth — the  Ombwiri  of 
Gabon — whose  influence,  according  to  the  suspicions  of  many, 
extends  over  everything  here  below  ?    Perhaps. 

Or  to  the  spirit  of  the  heavens  who  organized  everything, 
who  has  given  life  and  who  takes  it  away,  whose  name  or  sur- 
name in  many  tribes  is  precisely  equivalent  to  ^^Master"  ^^  or 
'Tather"  or  "Proprietor"  ?     Perhaps. 

At  all  events,  like  a  poor  child  who  might  awake  some  beau- 
tiful morning  in  the  park  or  garden  of  a  king,  the  primitive 
here  below  does  not  feel  completely  at  home. 

One  day  I  asked  a  chief,  "Who  owns  the  land  occupied  by 
your  tribe  ?"     "The  land  ?"  he  replied  in  astonishment.     "Who 

'^  Mtoeny'ezi    (literally,   "He   who  has   the  power");     Reri   yajio    (our 
Father )  ;  etc. 


58  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

owns  the  air,  the  water,  the  light?  It  is  to  Him  alone  that 
the  land  belongs !"    And  he  pointed  towards  the  heavens. 

So,  when  the  primitive  is  about  to  lay  hands  on  some  fruits 

of  nature,  he  first  recalls  that  this  product  has  an  immanent 

\  power  able  to  turn  against  him  and  that,  also,  it  has  an  owner 

v\in  that  universal  Master  whose  distant,  vague,  but  certain  and 

>;  Sireadful  presence  is  felt  everywhere. 

What  is  to  be  done?  Finding  himself  between  these  mys- 
terious exactions  and  the  necessity  of  living,  man  has  felt  that 
he  could  not  make  use  of  nature  with  unlimited  and  unre- 
strained freedom.  He  will,  then,  first  of  all  be  careful  to 
acknowledge  the  just  rights  of  the  invisible  and  sovereign 
Master  who  keeps  himself  hid  from  view  behind  the  visible 
world,  although  he  does  reveal  his  presence  from  time  to  time. 
Each  time  the  !N"egrillos  establish  a  new  encampment,  after 
clearing  the  place,  they  begin  by  making  a  fire  on  which  each 
one  puts  a  branch.  If  everything  passes  without  incident,  it 
means  that  the  encampment  is  good ;  but  if,  in  this  first  fire,  a 
twig  doubles  up,  it  means  that  the  earth  protests  and  that  it  is 
futile  to  camp  there:  the  place  is  at  once  abandoned  and  they 
go  further  on. 

[N'ature  has  her  secrets  and  mysteries.  She  does  not  like 
anybody  to  take  them  from  her  and  often  avenges  herself  on 
the  audacious  who  compel  her  to  give  them  up.  When  they 
clear  a  forest,  when  they  dig  into  the  earth  to  get  the  water 
or  the  metals  that  she  is  hiding,  when  they  establish  their  en- 
campment or  village  in  certain  places,  has  it  not  often  been 
observed  that  accidents  or  diseases  stop  the  invader?  It  is 
nature  defending  herself. 

It  is  necessary,  first  of  all,  to  recognize  the  rights  of  nature 
and  nature's  Master,  and  to  use  his  gifts  only  with  precaution 
and  reserve. 

This  is  why,  in  primitive  society,  the  head  of  the  family 
and  of  the  tribe  makes  use  of  his  authority,  the  character  of 
which  is  nearly  always  sacred,  to  interdict  certain  products, 
certain  acts,  certain  places,  certain  things,  certain  persons. 
This  interdict  can  be  removed  only  by  the  authority  that 
imposed  it,  after  a  particular  ceremony  destined  to  restore  the 


THE  PRIMITIVE  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  NATURE    59 

freedom  of  usage  by  a  sort  of  expiation  or  sacrifice.  It  is  the 
legal  principle  of  the  sacred  interdict  or  iahoo,  which  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  treat  later  under  the  question  of  morals. 

Feeling  the  need  of  acknowledging  his  position  of  vassal, 
the  primitive  offers  the  firstfruits  of  whatever  he  asks  of 
nature — by  the  sacrifice  of  a  part  he  will  redeem  the  right  to 
use  the  rest — he  makes  a  libation  before  drinking  a  fermented 
liquor,  casts  to  the  four  points  of  the  compass  a  piece  of  the 
wild  honeycomb  he  has  just  gathered,  casts  back  into  the  sea 
the  liver  of  the  first  fish  he  has  taken,  performs  various  cere- 
monies before  culling  a  medicinal  plant,  clearing  a  corner  of 
the  forest,  digging  a  well  or  tapping  a  spring,  mining  or  smelt- 
ing metals  that  are  hidden  beneath  the  soil,  and  so  forth. 

Therein  we  have  the  explanation  of  the  sacrifice,  like  that  of 
the  taboo.  Thus,  passing  and  repassing  about  the  great  table 
of  nature,  always  served  by  the  care  of  an  invisible  and  mys- 
terious Master,  primitive  man,  reserved  because  he  is  sus- 
picious, cautiously  puts  his  hand  to  it,  murmuring  after  his 
fashion  formulas  of  politeness  that  his  simple  and  troubled 
conscience  suggests  to  him.  Sometimes  the  Master,  perhaps  to 
train  this  greedy  child,  has  given  him  a  crack  on  the  fingers: 
this  child  remembers  it  and  consequently  is  particular  to 
acknowledge  the  superior  rights  and  to  respect  the  mysterious 
will  of  him  who  presides  over  the  whole  banquet. 

Vll.     The  Primitive  Data  :  Science,  Religion,  Magic 

The  conception  of  visible  nature  general  among  the  Negrillos 
of  to-day  and  the  ancient  Bantus,  is  this: 

1.  Nature,  in  the  countless  elements  of  which  it  is  composed, 
is  full  of  secret  influences  and  innate  forces,  powers,  proper- 
ties, specific  ^^manners,'^  susceptible  of  being  exercised  for  or 
against  man  and  directed  by  what  we  have  called  the  ^^souls'' 
of  things. 

2.  Nature  in  these  different  elements  can  be,  and  often  is 
influenced,  governed,  and  subjected  by  numberless  spirits  that 
are  wandering  about  us;  in  other  words,  as  we  make  use  of 
nature,  the  spirits  do  also,  but  with  means  superior  to  ours. 


60  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

The  art  of  magic  consists  precisely  in  getting  possession  of 
these  secrets  so  as  to  force  the  spirits  to  work  for  us. 

3.  Lastly,  nature  is  not  given  to  us  without  reserve.  We 
have  not  every  right  over  it,  as  it  often  makes  us  clearly  under- 
stand. Let  us  use  but  not  abuse  it;  let  us  use  it,  but  at  the 
same  time  acknowledge  the  rights  claimed  by  the  Master  and 
take  the  necessary  precautions. 

According  to  our  opinion,  in  this  sense  alone  can  the  primi- 
tive be  called  a  naturist  or  an  animist. 

I  This  i4ea,  which  perceptibly  differs  from  the  views  we  have 
I  set  forth  of  Keville,  Pfleiderer,  Tylor,  and  their  disciples,  per- 
'fectly  explains  the  attitude  of  the  primitive  in  the  presence  of 
nature,  without  making  him  what  he  is  not,  a  brute  and  an  idiot, 
incapable  of  distinguishing  between  the  animate  and  the  inani- 
mate, putting  all  on  the  same  plane  as  himself,  and  regarding 
as  rational  persons  even  the  sun  and  moon  as  well  as  stones 
or  trunks  of  old  trees. 

When  the  primitive  thinks  there  are  hidden  powers  in  things, 
he  is  right,  he  is  making  science.  But  he  often  deceives  him- 
self, more  often  than  the  members  of  our  learned  academies — 
and  therein  is  the  difference — in  his  appreciation  of  these 
"powers''  and  in  the  means  he  employs  to  utilize  them. 

When  the  primitive  regards  this  world  as  not  belonging  to 
him  and  is  persuaded  that  it  has  an  invisible,  sovereign  Master 
with  whom  he  must  reckon,  he  is  also  right,  according  to  our 
opinion — and  this  is  also  the  view  of  many  other  folk  who 
occupy  a  sufficiently  high  rank  in  human  society,   as  Moses, 
Aristotle,  Plato,  Cicero,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Dante,    Bossuet,    Leibnitz,    Newton,    Washington,    Napoleon, 
Pasteur.     But  he  differs  from  them  inasmuch  as  he  perceives  | 
this  Master  less  clearly  and  shows  himself  more  "primitive"  inl 
the  methods  he  employs  to  acknowledge  him.    Nevertheless  wes 
/"  here  reach  the  initial  substratum  of  belief  and  religious  worship.! 
When  the  primitive  thinks  that  outside  of  this  material  and 
visible  world  in  which  we  live,  there  is  another  world  of  in- 
visible beings,  disembodied  souls  or  independent  spirits,  who 
can  manifest  themselves  in  various  ways,  act  on  external  ob- 


THE  PRIMITIVE  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  NATURE     61 

jects,  enter  into  communication  with  us,  and  througli  certain 
practices  be  made  to  act  to  our  advantage,  then  he  is  perform- 
ing magic:  thereby  he  makes  himself  guilty  of  superstition 
and  anti-religion,  but  therein  he  is  like  a  great  number  of 
civilized  men  who,  in  all  times  and  places,  have  tried  also  to 
fasten  magic  at  the  side  of  religion. 

When  the  primitive  translates  these  different  impressions, 
beliefs,  and  practices  into  stories  more  or  less  coherent  wherein 
everything  is  mixed  together — poetry,  history,  science,  religion, 
superstition,  and  magic — he  does  as  we  do,  with  this  difference 
that  we  can  employ  in  our  productions  better  established  facts, 
ideas  more  connected,  more  sure  outlines,  more  solid  judgments, 
material  better  divided. 

But,  after  all,  we  resemble  each  other  much  more  than  we 
suppose  or  than  we  dare  say.  As  the  child  is  found  in  the 
mature  man  and  in  the  old  sire,  so  the  primitive  might  be 
found  in  the  civilized,  and  the  civilized  in  the  primitive. 

Are  we  so  sure  that  we  have  best  understood  existence  and 
have  taken  the  best  part  for  our  happiness  ? 

No  doubt,  when  we  consider  our  poor  savages  from  the 
height  of  our  complicated,  rational,  proud  civilization,  their 
life  seems  wretched  and  their  ideas  seem  strange.  As  the» 
hand  of  man  works  at  nature  and  discloses  her  mysteries, 
nature  seems  to  become  less  and  less  familiar  to  him  until, 
bruised,  disfigured,  shrunk,  deformed,  it  no  longer  speaks  to 
him  at  all. 

It  is  not  the  same  with  virgin  nature.  When  you  have  lived 
over  again  the  life  of  the  primitive,  when  you  have  tasted  the 
delights  of  the  woods  and  the  charm  of  solitude,  learned  to 
commune  with  the  inanimate  world  that  surrounds  you,  to 
appreciate  especially  the  infinite  sweetness  of  liberty,  of  a 
liberty  to  which  man  has  not  fixed  sacrilegious  limits  expressed 
in  countless  laws,  rules,  customs,  habits,  and  exactions  of  all 
sorts,  you  understand  that  everything  is  not  wretched  and- 
stupid  in  the  conceptions  and  the  existence  of  the  savage. 


In 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PKIMITIYE  AND  THE  FAMILY 

I.  The  Theory  of  Primitive  Promiscuity  and  the  Reply  of  Facts. 
Vae  soli!  The  Bantu  family.  Love  of  the  village.  The  mother  in 
the  black  country.  Marriage:  monogamy,  polygamy,  polyandry. 
Divorce.  Patriarchate  and  matriarchate.  Family  authority. 
II.  Exogamy.  What  it  is.  Common  theories  and  the  primitives'  expla- 
nation: morality  of  the  family,  respect  for  the  totem,  the  interest 
of  the  head  of  the  household,  the  need  of  alliances. 

III.  Totemism.     What  is  a  totem?     The  totem  among  the  NegTillos,  the 

San,  and  the  Bantus.  Its  importance  as  initial  form  of  religion. 
An  explanation — definition  of  totem.  The  proposed  interpretation 
applies  to  all  totemistic  manifestations.  The  need  of  being  allied 
and  of  being  distinguished.  Extension  and  transmission  of  the 
totem.     What  totemism  is:   a  magical,  family,  and  social  agreement. 

IV.  Conclusion.     The  family  has  kept  and  transmitted  religion  by  incor- 

porating itself  in  it. 

a 

I.     The   Theory  of  Primitive   Promiscuity 

If  the  primitive  had  only  a  general  concept  of  nature  to  sup- 
port his  religious  ideas  and  practices,  these,  we  could  readily 
understand,  would  remain  extremely  vague  and  inconsistent. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  so  with  a  great  many.  But  there 
e:>ists  a  natural,  permanent,  precise,  and  essentially  human 
organization  which  determines  them  everywhere,  nourishes 
and  transmits  them:  it  is  the  family. 

The  family  among  the  primitives  of  Africa,  as  among  alL 
others,  is  the  central  pillar  on  which,  along  with  religion,  all 
social  life  depends.  If  the  family  is  strongly  constituted,  the 
tribe  prospers ;  if  its  bonds  are  lax,  the  tribe  grows  weak ;  and 
if,  as  happens  on  the  coasts  and  in  the  European  centers,  it  is 
disorganized,  the  tribe  disappears. 

The  materialist  school  seems  not  to  have  learned  this  fact, 
essential  as  it  is.  It  is  true  that  its  system  does  not  leave  us 
any  choice  as  to  what  our  point  of  departure  shall  be. 

62 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  63 

"The  example  of  the  animals,"  says  one  of  its  partisans, 
"shows  us  what  were  the  first  habits  of  mankind.  We  see  our 
forefathers  roaming  through  the  forest,  like  big  monkeys,  in 
little  groups  composed  of  a  single  man  with,  no  doubt,  several* 
women  whom  he  has  appropriated  by  the  superiority  of  strength' 
over  weakness  and  whom  he  defends  against  his  rivals."  ^ 

And  further  on  he  adds: 

"Local  necessities  caused  considerable  variation  between  dif- 
ferent peoples  in  the  rapidity  (and  the  secondary  forms)  of  that 
evolution  (i.e.,  of  marriage  and  the  family).  But  among  all, 
we  find  at  first  general  promiscuity,  necessarily  giving  rise  to 
relationship  through  the  women.  Then  came  polyandry,  a  re- 
strained form  of  promiscuity.  And  last  of  all  we  have  polygamy 
or  monogamy,  along  with  which  were  developed  paternal  rela- 
tionship and  the  patriarchate,  such  as  it  appeared  at  the  dawn 
of  the  first  civilizations."  ^ 

That  such  a  gregarious  condition  existed  in  some  particu- 
larly wretched  human  groups  is  possible:  yet,  before  trans- 
forming such  an  hypothesis  into  incontestable  truth,  it  would 
be  wise  to  establish  it  by  precise  facts.  This  much  is  certai  i, 
that  nowhere  in  Africa  do  we  see  traces  of  this  promiscuity 
to-day — except  in  the  great  steppes  of  the  eastern  and  southern 
zones,  among  herds  of  antelopes.  As  to  the  men,  in  the  degree 
that  we  descend  towards  the  populations  of  a  general  primitive 
aspect,  as  the  J^egrillos  and  the  San,  the  more  the  family 
appears  as  the  fundamental,  necessary,  and  indisputable  basis 
of  elementary  society.  ^ 

This  does  not  surprise  us  when  we  recall  the  mentality  of 
these  poor  children  of  the  steppes  and  forests.  What  man 
seems  most  to  fear  in  the  presence  of  material  nature  and  the 
world  of  invisible  beings  that  dominate  him,  is  isolation.  In 
that  savage  environment,  pitiless  towards  weakness,  an  isolated* 
man  is  a  lost  man:  Yae,  soli!  As  soon  as  he  is  found  defense- 
less by  another  stronger  than  himself,  he  will  be  seized,  reduced 
to  slavery,  perhaps  eaten.  From  this  point  of  view  an  en- 
counter with  men   is   still   more   dangerous   for   him   than   a 

*  Gustave  Le  Bon,  Les  Premieres  civilisationSy  p.  50. 
'Ibid.,  p.  59. 


64  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

meeting  with  wild  beasts.  His  instinct,  his  anxiety  for  self- 
preservation,  without  speaking  of  other  aspirations,  urges  him 
to  seek  alliances  in  the  world  about  him.  There  is  none  more 
reliable,  more  enduring,  and  sweeter  than  that  of  the  family, 
because  there  is  none  more  natural.  So,  in  the  land  of  primitive 
civilization,  the  more  difficult  life  is  because  of  the  dangers 
that  threaten  it,  the  more  closely  is  the  family  drawn  together ; 
the  easier  life  is,  the  more  lax  become  the  :^amily  relations. 

Among  the  Bantus,  the  social  crumbling  of  all  the  tribes, » 
their  perpetual  wars,  the  isolation  due  to  the  large  uninhabited 
tracts  of  land,  disease,  famine,  the  fear  of  ferocious  beasts, 
dangers  of  all  sorts  that  pursue  the  solitary  individual;  the 
indolence  that  leads  the  Black  to  count  more  on  others  than  on 
himself,  besides  other  dispositions  natural  to  man,  bring  about 
the  same  result.  Everywhere,  their  constant  preoccupation  is 
to  establish  a  family,  to  tighten  the  bonds  that  unite  them 
under  the  incontestable  authority  of  a  head,  to  maintain  along 
with  the  purity  of  blood,  the  totality  of  goods  that  are  found 
therein,  to  strengthen  it  by  forming  alliances,  to  make  it  a 
place  of  refuge  and  a  means  of  defense,  to  ward  off  the  visible 
and  hidden  dangers  that  threaten  it,  and  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  all  that,  to  assure  themselves  of  the  necessary  super- 
natural cooperation. 

In  Europe,  our  civic  groups,  cities,  towns,  and  villages, 
formed  of  diverse  elements  that  are  often  strangers  to  one 
another,  give  us  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  African  groups. 
There,  the  encampment  (if  they  are  nomads),  the  village  (if 
they  are  settlers),  is  formed  solely  of  relatives  united  under 
the  authority  of  a  chief ;  his  peoples  are  his  sons  and  daughters, 
nephews  and  nieces,  his  sons-in-law,  cousins,  uncles,  relatives- 
in-law,  and  adopted  ^^children" ;  these  are  surrounded  by  their 
respective  relatives  and  slaves. 

In  the  same  way  we  may  explain  the  origin  of  a  group  of 
encampments  or  villages  likewise  united  by  kinship,  but  of 
more  remote  origin.  Lastly,  the  tribe  is  nothing  more  than 
an  enlarged  family. 

Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  Ba-vili  of  Loango,  whom  R  E. 
Dennett  has  studied  with  remarkable  precision. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  65 

"The  organization  of  the  family  or  Xifnmba  is  certainly  one 
that  the  Ba-vili  need  not  be  ashamed  of,  and  when  compared 
to  that  of  many  civilized  peoples,  can  only  be  looked  upon  as 
a  model  of  logical  compactness. 

''The  family  forms  part  of  the  higher  organization  of  the 
tribe.  Each  individual  belongs  to  a  family;  each  family  is 
under  a  chief  called  Kongo  Zovo,  and  this  chief  is  under  the 
prince  of  the  province  containing  these  families.  Seven  of  these 
provinces  hold  the  people  of  Loango,  called  the  Ba-vili.  The 
Ba-vili,  under  their  King  Maluango,  formed  a  third  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Kongo,  or  the  Fjort  people,  who  are  a  section  of 
the  Bantu  race.''  ^ 

We  may  say  it  is  the  same  with  all  the  peoples  that  have 
constituted  themselves  into  tribes  or  kingdoms.  Others  have 
a  more  lax  and  fragmentary  organization,  under  an  authority 
that  is  often  nominal;  none  of  them  is  altogether  devoid  of 
some  authority. 

JSTo  one  may  leave  the  village  without  the  chiefs  permission, 
and  on  returning  every  one  must  present  himself  before  the 
chief,  render  an  account  of  what  he  has  seen  and  done,  speak 
of  his  fishing  and  hunting,  his  business,  his  meeting  with  other 
persons,  and  give  all  the  news  that  can  be  of  any  interest.  The 
chief  must  be  obeyed  and  respected ;  he  has  authority  to  punish 
delinquents,  confine  them,  deprive  them  of  food,  rent  them  out, 
and  sometimes  even  to  sell  them.  In  general,  the  right  of  life 
and  death  belongs  to  a  higher  dignitary.  The  local  chief  may, 
in  all  cases,  demand  the  services  of  his  whole  family.* 

Undoubtedly  in  the  long  run,  journeys,  business  affairs,  wars, 
invasions,  without  mentioning  the  almost  universal  practice  of 
slavery,  lead  to  inevitable  mixture,  yet  it  is  true  that  the  tribes 
are  able  to  maintain  a  relative  purity  distinguishing  them  not 
only  by  their  features  but  by  an  ensemble  of  institutions  and 
marks  of  which  we  shall  have  to  speak. 

Love  of  the  village  is  universal.    Although  the  Black  enjoys 
travel,  he  never  forgets  his  home,  his  mother,  his  brothers.  < 
His  mother's  name  often  comes  to  his  mind  far  away  in  those 


*  Dennett,  op.  cit.,  p.  35. 
'  Ihid.,  p.  36. 


66  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

gentle  songs  that  he  repeats  to  himself  in  the  evening  at  the 
encampments  of  the  caravan,  on  the  little  footpaths,  and  on 
the  big  rivers  where  his  canoe  glides  noiselessly  along. 

When  sick,  abandoned,  wounded,  or  dying,  there  is  from  one 
end  of  Africa  to  the  other,  in  all  ranks  and  at  all  ages,  a  call 
that    comes    to    his    lips,    always    the    same,    ever   touching:* 
'^lother !  Mother  V 

So  also,  there  is  no  insult  more  grievous,  and  we  must  say 
none  more  common,  than  that  touching  the  woman  who  gave 
him  birth.  I  am  happy  to  find  the  following  remark  from  the 
pen  of  a  judicious  and  authoritative  observer,  the  Eev.  Leigh  ton 
Wilson,  cited  by  another  well-known  observer,  Miss  Mary  H. 
Kingsley ; 

"Whatever  other  estimate  we  may  form  of  the  African,  we 
may  not  doubt  his  love  for  his  mother.  Whether  she  is  dead 
or  alive,  her  name  is  always  on  his  lips  and  in  his  heart.  She 
is  the  first  being  he  thinks  of  when  awakening  from  his  slumbers, 
and  the  last  he  remembers  when  closing  his  eyes  in  sleep;  to 
her  he  confides  secrets  which  he  would  confide  to  no  other  human 
being  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  He  cares  for  no  one  else  in 
time  of  sickness,  she  alone  must  prepare  his  food,  administer 
his  medicine,  perform  his  ablutions,  and  spread  his  mat  for 
him.  He  flies  to  her  in  the  hour  of  distress,  for  he  well  knows 
if  all  the  rest  of  the  world  turn  against  him,  she  will  be  stead- 
fast in  her  love,  whether  he  be  right  or  wrong. 

"If  there  be  any  cause  which  justifies  a  man  in  using  violence 
towards  one  of  his  fellow-men,  it  would  be  to  resent  an  insult 
offered  to  his  mother.  More  fights  are  occasioned  among  boys 
by  hearing  something  said  in  disparagement  of  their  mothers 
than  from  all  other  causes  put  together.  It  is  a  common  saying 
among  them,  if  a  man's  mother  and  his  wife  are  both  on  the 
point  of  being  drowned,  and  he  can  save  only  one  of  them,  he 
must  save  his  mother  for  the  avowed  reason  that  if  the  wife  is 
lost  he  can  marry  another,  but.  he  will  never  find  a  second 
mother."  ^ 

The  blessing  of  one's  parents  is  a  gage  of  happiness,  and 
their  curse  is  the  worst  of  calamities,  one  that  pursues  the 

^L.  Wilson,  Western  Africa,  in  West  African  Studies  by  Miss  M.  H. 
Kingsley,  p.  374. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  67 

guilty  son  everywhere,  empoisoning  his  life  and  sowing  misfor- 
tune all  about  him.  I  was  a  witness  of  the  following  scene. 
With  her  garments  in  shreds,  her  features  distorted  like  those 
of  a  fury,  her  thin  body  agitated  by  convulsive  trembling,  utter- 
ing cries  that  were  almost  inhuman,  an  old  woman  gathered 
up  handfuls  of  earth  and,  with  her  long  lank  arm,  cast  it  in 
the  direction  of  a  young  man  who  was  fleeing  in  terror.  This 
sight  was  most  impressive,  like  that  described  in  the  first  pages 
of  the  Bible,  where  Cain  is  cursed  by  his  mother  and  by  his 
God  after  the  murder  of  Abel. 

The  family,  as  we  have  said,  is  generally  monogamous 
among  the  Negrillos,  except  in  certain  encampments  affected 
by  the  contagion  of  neighboring  example.  The  same  is  true 
of  a  few  Bantu  tribes. 

But  in  most  of  the  black  populations  polygamy  is  the  rule — 
by  law  at  least,  if  not  in  fact^ — polygamy  organized  and  regu- 
lated by  customs  having  the  force  of  law,  customs  which,  in 
the  spirit  of  this  world,  not  only  do  not  destroy  the  family, 
but  strengthen  it  by  giving  the  chief  more  ease,  more  riches, 
more  relatives,  more  alliances,  and  especially  more  authority. 
However,  in  the  tribes  dominated  by  polygamy  there  is  usually 
a  marked  difference  between  the  ^'first"  wife  and  the  others. 
She  commands,  has  charge  of  the  property  and,  after  the  death 
of  the  master,  it  is  her  duty  to  see  that  nothing  disappears 
before  the  legal  assignment.  Naturally  there  are  frequent  dis- 
putes in  these  multiple  households:  the  man  does  not  concern 
himself  with  them,  judging  that  it  is  the  best  w\ay  to  stop  them. 
Often  the  first  wife  is  the  most  zealous  in  urging  her  husband 
to  get  other  wives :  for  in  this  way  there  is  a  chance  to  see  her 
authority  increased  and  her  work  lessened.  Each  wife  has  her 
own  hut,  children,  slaves,  plot  of  ground,  chickens,  and  goats, 
her  own  little  domain  where  her  husband  comes  to  see  her,  in 
this  manner  dividing  his  time  between  them. 

As  regards  work,  the  woman  plants  and  cultivates,  cooks 
the  food,  fetches  the  wood  and  water,  and  takes  care  of  the 
children ;  the  man  looks  after  the  religious  duties  of  the  family, 
sickness,  burial,  and  business  affairs,  attends  the  council^  takes 


68  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

part  in  war  and  commerce.  He  builds  and  repairs  the  hut, 
and  when  it  is  time  for  planting,  it  is  he  who  clears  the  ground. 

With  the  rare  exception  of  a  few  tribes,  as,  for  instance,  the 
Wa-rundi,^  the  woman  never  eats  with  the  man  and  ordinarily 
does  not  share  his  company. 

Polyandry  is  unknown — at  least  I  am  not  acquainted  with 
any  example  among  the  Bantus.  But  where  it  does  exist,  as  in 
Thibet,  strange  and  immoral  as  it  may  be,  this  institution  is  not 
a  denial  of  the  family:  its  object  is  to  form  about  the  woman 
a  group  of  absolute  unity  and  to  maintain  the  property  undi- 
vided as  long  as  possible:  it  is  the  product,  not  of  a  primitive 
state,  but  of  an  advanced  and  perverted  civilization.'^ 

From  the  fact  that  in  Africa  as  elsewhere  the  family  is  con- 
sidered a  necessary  institution  for  the  maintenance  and  de- 
velopment of  society,  it  does  not  follow  that  this  plan  works 
without  defects  or  difficulty.  The  family  institution  is  involved 
in  most  lawsuits  for  the  simple  reason  that  woman  and  the 
value  she  represents  are  at  the  bottom  of  nearly  all  litigation. 

Divorce  is  everywhere  recognized  and  accepted,  in  some 
places  more  frequently  than  in  others.  It  is  but  just  to  add 
that  it  is  everywhere  considered  an  evil.  Besides,  it  is  subject 
to  certain  minute  regulations  that  can  not  be  legally  infringed. 
In  case  of  separation,  no  one  remains  alone,  neither  father 
nor  mother  nor  children:  each  returns  to  his  or  her  respective 
family  or  founds  a  new  one.  So  that  in  Africa  families  are 
destroyed  only  to  be  reestablished ;  for  primitive  society,  divorce 
has  not  all  the  weakening  consequences  that  it  exercises  in  our 
civilized  communities. 

In  Africa  the  patriarchal  custom,  by  virtue  of  which  the 
father  is  master  of  the  family,  seems  to  be  most  ancient :  at  all 
events  it  is  so  with  the  l^egTillos  and  with  a  great  number  of 
Bantu  tribes. 

But  we  also  meet  the  matriarchal  organization  in  a  number 
of  tribes.     This  system  makes  relationship,  authority,  and  the 

"Rev.  J.  M.  Van  der  Burgt,  Diet,  franc,  kirundi,  1903   (art.  Femme). 
'  Bulletin  de  la  Socdete  neufchdteloise  de  geographic,  XII,  p.  304. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  69 

order  of  inheritance  pass  on  the  mother's  side.  All  these  rights 
ordinarily  belong  to  the  maternal  uncle,  who  thus  becomes  the 
real  head  of  the  house  or  family;  on  him  everything  depends, 
to  him  everything  comes.  Hence  the  more  sisters  a  man  has, 
the  more  importance  will  he  have :  since  the  woman  is  given  in 
marriage  only  for  a  certain  value  or  "payment,"  the  more 
dowries  he  will  receive,  the  more  granddaughters  he  will  have 
to  give  in  marriage  in  the  same  manner,  the  richer  he  will  be- 
come, the  more  alliances  he  will  have,  and  the  more  his 
authority  will  increase. 

What  is  the  reason  for  this  regime,  that  seems  so  strange  to 
us,  in  which  the  father's  rights  almost  disappear  ?  Such  of  the 
natives  as  can  reason  a  little  about  their  customs — and  there 
are  some — reply  that  its  purpose  and  actual  result  is  to  insure 
legitimate  successors  to  the  chiefs  of  villages  and  tribes.  If 
the  chief  has  his  sister's  son  for  his  successor,  he  is  certain  to 
have  one  of  his  own  blood:  whereas,  with  the  son  of  his  wife, 
"who  can  tell  ?"  The  matriarchate,  then,  comes  from  the  idea 
of  insuring  the  unity  and  purity  of  the  family. 

Whatever  form  it  may  have,  especially  on  the  western  coast, 
the  family  has  such  a  power  that  it  absorbs  the  individual  and 
truly  remains  the  constituent  unity  of  the  entire  community. 
It  is  the  whole  family  that  shares  tbe  goods  acquired  by  its 
most  energetic  and  most  industrious  members  without  the  latter 
being  able  to  hinder  this  forced  liberality.  The  family  is  spon- 
sor for  all  its  members  whether  right  or  wrong,  and  on  it  they 
all  rely  to  be  upheld,  assisted,  defended,  avenged.  By  con- 
tributing to  furnish  the  necessary  funds,  the  family  aids  the 
young  members  to  get  married ;  but  it  likewise  profits  by  giving 
in  marriage  (in  return  for  value  received)  the  daughters  that 
are  the  issue  of  these  unions  and  by  exploiting  the  strength 
and  cunning  of  the  boys  in  its  interest.  We  can  easily  under- 
stand what  abuse  may  arise  under  such  a  system  especially 
when  the  European  centers  are  ready  to  arouse  the  cupidity 
and  sensuality  of  the  Blacks:  then  we  witness  the  regular  ex- 
ploitation of  children,  particularly  the  girls,  by  the  "ancients," 
without  their  fathers  or  mothers  being  able  to  offer  effective 


70  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

opposition,  since  they  are  only  individuals  without  authority 
and  without  power  before  the  head  of  the  family.^ 

Nevertheless,  however  hard  these  laws  may  be  for  indi- 
viduals, they  express  a  condition  the  very  opposite  of  that 
gregarious  and  unconscious  promiscuity  of  which  we  have 
spoken  above.  They  even  bestow  an  exaggerated  unity  and 
power  upon  family  authority. 

Other  numerous  and  characteristic  regulations  take  the  child 
from  its  mother's  bosom,  follow  him  until  puberty,  then  estab- 
lish him  in  his  new  environment  by  a  preliminary  initiation, 
rule  over  his  life,  cling  to  him  in  death,  and  pass  with  his  manes 
into  the  supernatural  world  where  they  survive.  This  will 
occupy  the  rest  of  our  studies:  let  it  suffice  at  this  point  to 
remember  that  all  or  nearly  all  these  laws,  customs,  and  prac- 
tices, both^social  and  religious,  concern  the  organization,  life, 
and  development  of  the  family,  village,  clan,  and  tribe. 

But  first  we  must  briefly  touch  upon  two  questions  about  the 
family  that  have  been  a  great  puzzle  to  scholars :  exogamy  and 
totemism. 

II.     Exogamy 

First  of  all,  these  two  institutions  must  not  be  considered  as 
depending  one  upon  the  other:  if,  in  fact,  totemism  leads  to 
exogamy,  exogamy  does  not  always  presuppose  totemism.^ 

Exogamy  is  the  rule  obliging  one  to  take  a  wife  outside  the 
clan  or,  more  generally,  outside  his  relations.  This  rule  seems 
to  be  in  force  among  all  primitive  societies.  It  is  interesting, 
in  passing,  to  point  this  out  among  the  "primates"  that  are 
incessantly  described  as  living  in  bestial  promiscuity.  In  fact, 
consanguineous  alliances  within  various  degrees  are  severely 
forbidden  throughout  all  Africa.  Incest,  the  sexual  union  of 
individuals  who  are  related  within  the  forbidden  degrees,  is 

« Cf.  R.  H.  Nassau,  Fetichism  in  West  Africa. 

•Exogamy  (g^w,  outside,  and  y&fxos,  marriage)  is  the  opposite  of 
Endogamy  {iv8ov,  Knthin) .  The  clan  (from  Scottish  Klaan,  "child")  is 
an  organization  whose  members  consider  themselves  descended  from  the 
same  ancestor  as  their  chief  or,  more  strictly,  from  the  same  totemic 
ancestor. 


THE  PEIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  71 

everywhere  abhorred  and  punished:  the  fruit  of  such  a  union 
is  generally  destroyed  as  abominable  in  itself,  dangerous  for 
the  family,  and  fatal  to  the  country. 

Why  this  prohibition? 

Many  complicated  theories  try  to  explain  it  but,  according 
to  Eeinach,^^  they  have  not  fully  succeeded ;  it  is  quite  possible 
these  very  learned  sociologists — Lubbock,  Spencer,  MacLennan, 
Morgan,  Durkheim — wandered  too  far  oif  in  search  of  ex- 
planation. 

As  Durkheim  and  Keinach  very  justly  remark,  in  all  primi- 
tive society,  woman  is  the  object  of  a  sacred  interdict  or  taboo 
at  different  periods  of  her  life;  hence  the  separation  of  the 
sexes  and  the  customs  dictated,  at  least  partly,  by  a  generally 
prevalent  sense  of  modesty.  In  addition  to  the  reasons  that 
have  been  given  for  this  interdict,  referring  to  the  "dangerous'^ 
nature  of  contact  with  a  woman  at  these  periods,  there  is  no 
doubt  in  our  mind  but  they  had  the  morality  of  the  family  in 
view. 

What?  you  will  say.  Savages  concerned  with  morality? 
Even  so;  and  this  is  not  the  only  example  of  such  preoccu- 
pation furnished  by  the  savages.  Thanks  to  this  taboo  forbid- 
ding consanguineous  unions,  the  sexual  instinct  is  restrained, 
its  exercise  removed  beyond  the  circle  of  relationship,  the 
family  morality  is  assured,  and  the  ever  dominant  concern  for 
the  preservation  of  the  group  is  satisfied. 

It  is  possible,  however,  that  totemism  is  not  a  stranger  to 
this  prescription.  If,  in  fact,  the  husband  found  himself 
obliged  to  send  his  wife  away  or  if  she  had  to  quit  her  husband 
— a  double  case  to  be  foreseen — and  if  they  both  had  the  same 
totem,  this  totem  would  be  offended  by  such  a  division.  In 
short,  when  husband  and  wife  belong  to  different  families,  both 
of  them  preserve  a  gTeater  liberty  for  the  future.  In  the  black 
country  this  perspective  is  greatly  appreciated. 

In  the  maintenance  of  exogamy  there  is  another  reason  of 
very  practical  import.  In  Africa  and  generally  in  all  primi- 
tive countries,  the  head  of  the  family  has  been  able  to  derive 
considerable  advantage  from  his  daughters.      Since  they  are 

"  Reinach,  op.  dt. 


72  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

souglit  after,  they  have  a  value,  and  if  they  have  a  value,  the 
most  elementary  care  for  his  interests  urges  him  to  give  them 
only  for  an  exchange  or  payment.  That  is  what  happens.  But 
the  head  of  the  family,  being  already  proprietor  of  all  that  his 
family  possesses,  can  evidently  derive  profit  from  his  daughters 
only  by  giving  them  to  strangers.  Likewise,  in  case  of  divorce, 
justice  requires  the  return  of  the  "dowry";  but  this  return 
would  be  purposeless  if  it  were  made  within  the  same  family. 
In  fact,  the  head  of  the  house  would  be  giving  back  the  dowry 
to  himself,  which  would  be  absurd.  ^^    . 

According  to  what  we  have  set  forth,  one  preoccupation  of 
the  head  of  the  household  is  to  strengthen  himself  by  alliances, 
which  will  permit  him  and  his  to  travel  more  easily,  to  have 
more  numerous  relations,  to  count  on  more  friends  in  case  of 
war  or  lawsuits,  to  traffic  on  a  larger  scale,  to  find  all  about  him 
an  ever  ready  hospitality.  Marriage  outside  the  limits  of  rela- 
tionship assures  all  these  advantages. 

Are  not  these  reasons  sufficient  to  explain  exogamy  ?  At  any 
rate  they  are  the  ones  that  best  correspond  to  the  native  in- 
stitutions and  the  most  conformable  to  the  mentality  of  the 
primitives. 

Once  the  law  is_made,  admitted,  and  sanctioned  by  long 
usage,  it  will  be  enforced,  regardless  even  of  hygienic  consid- 
erations— for  which  the  primitives  have  more  regard  than  we 
think — as  a  social  necessity  which  one  may  not  neglect  with- 
out arousing  the  reprobation  of  his  relatives  and  the  punishment 
of  the  invisible  world. 

Yet  we  may  add  to  these  different  motives  another  that  may 
well  be  the  principal  one. 

In  their  method  of  farming,  the  system  of  alternation  is 
general  in  this  sense,  that  they  never  cultivate  the  same  field 
twice  in  succession.  They  know  the  ground  becomes  quickly 
exhausted  in  producing  the  same  crops  indefinitely;  hence, 
since  they  generally  have  unlimited  space,  they  keep  changing 
the  place  of  their  farming. 

It  must  be  the  same,  they  think,  in  human  crops :  under  pain 

"Cf.  H.  A.  Junod,  Les  Ba-Ronga,  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Society  neuf- 
chdteloise  de  gdographie,  X,  1898,  p.  70. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  73 

of  impoverishing  them,  "it  is  necessary  to  change  the  blood." 
Whence  the  practice  of  exogamy. 


III.       TOTEMISM 

With  totemism  we  touch  on  another  problem  to  which  great 
importance  is  now  attached. 

J.  G.  Frazer,  who  made  a  special  study  of  the  subject,  gives 
us  this  definition:  ''A  totem  is  a  class  of  material  objects 
which  a  savage  regards  with  superstitious  respect,  believing 
that  there  exists  between  him  and  every  member  of  the  class 
an  intimate  and  altogether  special  relation."  ^^  And  Reinach 
says,  with  more  exactness,  that  under  this  term  are  included 
"the  animal,  vegetable,  and  more  rarely,  the  mineral  or 
heavenly  body  which  the  clan  regards  as  an  ancestor,  protector, 
and  a  rallying  sign.  .  .  .  The  totem  is  not  an  individual,  but 
an  animal  clan  affiliated  to  the  human  clan."  ^^ 

This  expression,  totem,^'^  which  has  been  unusually  fortunate, 
is  a  barbarism  derived  from  a  word  of  the  Chippeway  Indians 
of  JSTorth  America;  for  totemism  was  especially  flourishing 
among  them. 

'Not  only  in  iJ^orth  America  is  totemism  known.  We  find  it, 
though  only  in  a  state  of  partial  survival,  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  It  may  be  family,  sexual,  or  individual  according  as  it 
is  applied  to  a  whole  family  or  tribe,  exclusively  to  one  sex  of 
such  a  group,  or  to  a  particular  individual.  We  also  find 
totems  of  secret  societies  notably  in  Africa:  thus  in  Loango 
there  is  the  "Society  of  the  Leopard,"  among  the  Wa-nika  the 
"Society  of  the  Hyena." 

Totemism  is  both  a  religious  and  a  social  system,  or  rather 
it  is  a  social  and  family  institution  based  on  a  magical  idea. 

"J.  G.  Frazer,  Totemism,  p.  1. 

"  Reinach,  op.  cit. 

"  "According  to  Abb6  Thavenet,"  says  Frazer,  "the  word  is  properly  ote, 
in  the  sense  of  'family'  or  'tribe/  possessive  otem,  and  with  the  personal 
pronoun  nind  otem  'my  tribe/  ket  otem,  'thy  tribe.'  "  So  that,  if  one  in- 
sists on  employing  this  expression  which  has  the  advantage  of  possessing 
a  mysterious  air  and  impresses  the  common  mind,  one  should  at  least  say 
oteis7n  or  otemism.     Frazer,  Totemism,,  p.  1. 


U  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

It  did  not  create  the  taboo,  the  explanation  of  which  comes 
from  another  source,  but  it  has  been  the  occasion  for  the  crea- 
tion of  many  taboos.  Thus  generally  the  members  of  the 
family  are  forbidden  to  kill  or  eat  the  totem  which  they  in- 
voke or  whose  name  they  bear — except  in  sacrifice  by  way  of 
communion ;  they  are  forbidden  even  to  touch  it  or  to  look  at  it. 

A  totem  is  not  a  fetich. 

^'The  radical  distinction  between  it  and  the  fetich,"  says 
Eeinach,  ^'is  this:  the  fetich  is  one  individual  object;  the  totem 
is  a  class  of  objects,  regarded  by  members  of  the  tribe  or  clan 
as  tutelar — protective,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word.  Take 
the  case  of  a  clan  with  the  serpent  totem :  the  members  will  call 
themselves  Serpents,  claim  descent  from  a  serpent,  abstain  from 
killing  serpents,  raise  pet  serpents,  read  the  future  by  the  aid 
of  serpents,  believe  themselves  immune  from  serpent  bites,  and 
so  on  indefinitely."  ^^ 

ISTotwithstanding  l^orth  America  is  the  classical  land  of 
totemism,  we  find,  as  we  have  said,  many  curious  traces  of  it 
in  Africa.  The  l^^egrillos  of  the  Gabon  equatorial  forest,  for 
example,  have  the  chimpanzee  or  hweya,  as  totem ;  whence  their 
name  Ba-lcweya  (the  Chimpanzees)  among  the  Mpongwes.^® 
They  do  not  speak  of  this  species  of  monkey  except  by  way  of 
paraphrase,  nor  do  they  permit  any  one  to  pronounce  its  name 
in  their  presence  for  fear  of  failing  in  respect  towards  it  and 
of  provoking  its  resentment. 

To  the  south,  their  cousins  the  San,  or  Bushmen,  have  a 
sort  of  worship  for  an  insect,  the  ngo,  that  encloses  itself  with 
tiny  bits  of  straw  in  a  case  like  that  of  the  phryganides  larvae, 
from  which  only  its  head  and  first  pair  of  legs  emerge.  It  is 
the  emblem  of  the  hidden  life  which  our  Pygmies  affect  to 
seek  after.  When  they  go  to  the  chase,  they  try  to  find  one  of 
these  caterpillars;  they  pray  to  it  that,  by  helping  to  conceal 
them,  it  may  enable  them  to  approach  the  wild  game  they  hope 
to  bring  down  by  their  arrows.  ^"^ 

"Eeinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  11. 

"According  to  one  of  my  Benga  informers,  of  Cape  Esterias  (Gabon). 

"  Quatrefages,  The  Pygmies. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  75 

Among  the  Bantiis,  we  find  tlie  same  ideas  and  practices. 
The  Fans,  for  instance,  have  a  legend  in  which  the  crocodile 
enters  as  an  ancestor,  who,  after  numerous  adventures,  is  immo- 
lated in  sacrifice  and  partaken  of  by  the  first  family  chiefs  so 
that  its  power  passes  into  them  by  this  strange  communion. 
To  recall  this  ancient  alliance,  the  Fans  have  their  teeth  filed 
to  a  point  like  the  crocodile. ^^ 

In  Loango  there  is  a  practice  which  greatly  complicates  the 
question  of  matrimonial  prohibition.  The  "son  of  the  family'^ 
has  four  totems,  namely,  those  of  the  two  first  ancestors  (the 
first  couple  that  gave  birth  to  the  tribe),  that  of  his  father  and 
that  of  his  mother.^® 

On  the  eastern  coast,  the  totem  of  the  Wa-nika  is  the  hyena. 
When  one  of  these  animals  has  been  killed  or  is  found  dead, 
the  ancients  arrange  a  funeral  ceremony  as  for  one  of  their 
own.  They  beat  the  sacred  drum,  and  on  all  sides  cries  and 
lamentations  are  heard.  Once  the  animal  is  buried,  they 
slaughter  an  ox  or  a  goat  and  for  three  days  they  eat  and  drink, 
stopping  only  to  cry  over  the  defunct  "brother."  On  this  occa- 
sion every  one  must  shave  his  head. 

The  Zulus  keep  tame,  harmless  serpents,  showing  them  affec- 
tionate respect  and  cherishing  them  as  relatives. 

These  examples  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely;  but  we 
must  hurry  on  to  the  discussion  of  the  system  which  has 
assumed  a  considerable  importance  during  these  latter  years. 

Though  testifying  that  "no  satisfactory  explanation  of  the 
origin  of  totemism  has  yet  been  given,"  ^^  Frazer  offers  the 
following : 

"As  the  attribution  of  human  qualities  to  the  totem  is  of  the 
essence  of  totemism,  it  is  plain  that  a  deity  generalized  from 
or  including  animals  and  plants  must,  as  his  animal  and  veg- 
etable attributes  contradict  and  cancel  each  other,  tend  more 
and  more  to  throw  them  off  and  to  retain  only  those  human 
qualities  which  to  the  savage  apprehension  are  the  common 
element  of  all  the  totems  whereof  he  is  the  composite  product. 

"P.  H.  Trilles,  Proverbes,  legendes,  et  contes  fdns,  p.  114. 
"Dennett,  op.  cit.,  p.  154. 
**  Totemism,  p.  95. 


76  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

In  short,  the  tribal  totem  tends  to  pass  into  an  anthropomorphic 
god."  So  that  "we  can  detect  in  the  totemic  philosophy  itself 
some  advances  towards  the  formation  of  a  deity  distinct  from 
and  superior  to  all  the  individuals  of  the  totem  species.''  ^^ 

Starting  from  a  different  point  of  view,  Reinach  follows  W. 
Robertson  Smith,  Jevons,  and  a  whole  school  of  others  and 
tends  in  the  same  direction,  making  of  totemism  and  animism 
the  initial  point  of  man's  religious  and  social  evolution.  Ac- 
cording to  this  school,  the  primitive  form  of  zoolatry  and 
dendrolatry  must  have  given  way  to  the  cultivation  of  corn, 
grazing,  agriculture,  industry,  the  use  and  combination  of 
metals,  as  well  as  the  constitution  of  the  family.  At  the  basis 
of  all  this,  Reinach  sees  religion. 

"Primarily,"  he  says,  "religion  is  a  system  of  taboos — spir- 
itual restraints  on  the  brute  energies  and  instincts  of  man.  .  .  . 
The  taboos  applied  alike  to  the  human,  animal,  and  vegetable 
kingdoms,  between  which  the  savage — an  animist  by  nature — 
was  incapable  of  discriminating  with  precision. ^^  .  .  .  Now, 
so  far  as  the  system  of  taboos  centered  round  the  relations  of 
man  to  man,  it  formed  a  nucleus  of  family  and  social  law,  of 
morality  and  of  politics;  so  far,  however,  as  it  concerned  the 
animal  and  vegetable  world,  it  constituted  totemism."  ^^ 

E.  Durkheim  really  belongs  to  the  same  school.  But  as  he 
is  a  sociologist,  he  makes  it  all  come  from  sociolog3^  Accord- 
ing to  him,  the  true  primitive  was  in  the  state  of  passive 
atheism  spoken  of  by  Herbert  Spencer,  and  he  would  have 
remained  in  that  state  indefinitely  had  he  not  yielded  to  his 
instinct  of  becoming  united  in  society.  Theoretically  an  iso- 
lated man  is  incapable  of  religion.  But  the  exalting  influence 
exercised  by  uniting  in  a  crowd  gave  him  a  glimpse  of  a  new 
world:  the  world  of  sacred  things,  which  is,  after  all,  simply 
the  more  or  less  vague  feeling  of  social  strength.     Keen  emo- 

''Ihid.,  p.  88. 

"^Reinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  23.  Recall  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  language  of 
our  Bantu  savages  is  based  on  the  distinction  between  the  kingdoms  of 
nature.     It  is  the  same  with  many  other  primitive  peoples. 

"^Reinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  24. 


i 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  77 

tions,  however,  like  religious  feelings,  tend  to  crystallize  into 
a  symbol.  This  symbol,  this  rallying  sign,  this  banner,  was, 
for  the  primitives,  a  totem.  At  first  it  was  created  spontane- 
ously without  any  one  being  able  to  foresee  the  useful  role  it 
might  play.  ISTaturally  this  emblem  would  be  chosen  from 
the  species  of  beings  most  closely  related  to  man,  first  the 
animals,  then  plants,  then  other  objects.  One  general  idea 
dominates  the  primitive  world :  the  idea  of  the  consubstantiality 
of  things,  the  interpenetration  of  all  beings,  and  consequently 
a  sort  of  moral  and  physical  force  spread  throughout  all.  In 
other  words,  it  is  the  ^'totemic  divinity"  of  which  the  totems 
are  symbols  and  of  which  human  souls  are  the  fragments.  The 
idea  of  the  soul  begets  the  idea  of  the  spirit,  which  easily  leads 
to  that  of  a  divinity  ruling  over  the  entire  tribe.  Then  come 
the  ceremonies,  making  their  beliefs  more  vivid  and  precise. 

Thus  understood,  the  divinity  is  nothing  else  than  society    \ 
itself;  its  reality,  as  well  as  its  necessity,  coming  only  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  mode  of  collective  representation. 

^'Such  is  the  solid  foundation  that  gives  value  to  all  religions," 
Durkheim  concludes.    And  he  conscientiously  adds : 

"There  is  the  ^eternal'  of  religious  worship ;  it  is  not  necessary 
for  his  existence  that  man  should  contemplate  society  under 
the  personified  form  of  gods,  nor  that  he  should  believe  in  the 
material  efficacy  of  ceremonies  over  physical  things.  But  the 
moral  and  social  services  rendered  by  a  form  of  worship  will 
be  permanent  and  indispensable  so  long  as  there  will  be  men, 
that  is  to  say,  societies.  Thus  it  is  that  the  French  Eevolution 
felt  the  need  of  substituting  a  new  form  of  worship  for  the  old 
one  it  wished  to  destroy.  When  this  need  for  a  form  of  worship 
is  not  felt,  it  is  because  society  and  individuals  are  passing 
through  a  grave  crisis,  for  every  human  being  should  feel  the 
need  of  always  living  a  broader  and  more  intense  existence  and 
of  renewing  its  life."  ^* 

What  an  admirable  act  of  faith,  the  more  meritorious  since 
he  holds  it  all  alone,  flying  such  a  brilliant  kite  in  an  empty 
sky,  a  kite  fastened  to  the  clever  hand  of  a  child  by  an  imper- 
ceptible thread!     Durkheim's  thread  is  the  totemism  of  a  few 

'^  Revue  de  philosophie,  1907. 


78  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

little  Australian  tribes,  such  as  Baldwin,  Spencer,  Gillen,  and 
later  on  Howitt,  have  made  known  to  us.  And  when  you 
realize  that  this  universal,  necessary,  permanent  institution, 
which  is  religion,  has  issued  from  that  origin — when  you  recall 
that  its  initial  emblem  was  a  toad  or  a  caterpillar,  that  the 
human  soul,  the  spirits,  God  himself  are  only  totemic  creations, 
that  it  possesses  no  other  reality — and  when  you  remember 
that  religion  thus  understood  is  a  profound  actuality  and  a 
social  necessity,  you  ask  yourself  what  is  this  mystery  and 
what  is  this  miracle  unquestionably  surpassing  the  miracles 
and  mysteries  of  all  religions. 

Eegarding  the  question  as  definitely  settled,  certain  popular- 
izers  of  ^'modern  thought,"  while  announcing  a  projected  ency- 
clopedia "of  higher  popular  instruction,''  draw  some  practical 
conclusions. 

"In  primitive  religious  manifestations,"  they  say,  "we  see  no 
god,  properly  speaking.  Man  is  dependent  on  the  totem,  an 
animal  or  vegetable  form.  Then  come  the  worship  of  ancestors, 
local  cults,  national  religions,  polytheism,  and  monotheism.  Ke- 
ligions  are  phenomena  that  disappear  under  the  influence  of 
material  causes."  ^^ 

Extraordinary  initiators!  Drawing  conclusions  like  these 
from  such  premises,  one  is  amazed  at  the  bare  and  audacious 
assurance  with  which,  by  such  simple  means,  they  presume  to 
solve  the  most  delicate  and  important  question  that  has  ever 
been  proposed  to  the  world:  the  religious  question. 

It  seems  to  me  that  I  can  the  more  easily  attempt  the 
explanation  of  totems  since  I  myself  have  a  totem,  and  know 
perfectly  well  under  what  circumstances  it  began. 

^  Encyclopedie  d'enseigneme}it  populaire  superieur  puhliee  sous  la  direo- 
Hon  de  J.  M.  Lahy.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Grand  Orient  dealt  with 
this  publication  in  its  session  of  September  29,  1907 :  "Conformably  to  the 
desire  manifested  by  the  last  General  Assembly,  the  Council  of  the  Order 
has  been  interested  in  establishing  a  summary  of  the  history  of  religions 
suitable  for  school  children.  This  work  of  our  F.\  Lahy  has  appeared: 
it  is  presented  in  a  remarkable  fashion.  F.'.  Sembat  insists  that  this  book 
be  used  in  the  primary  schools."  La  Franc-maQonnerie  demasqu^e,  no.  23, 
(Dec.  10,  1907),  p.  361. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  79 

It  was  on  the  Kilimanjaro,  in  eastern  Africa.  This  is  a 
superh  mountain  rising  abruptly  from  an  immense  plain  almost 
on  the  equator.  It  raises  its  calm  and  majestic  head,  covered 
with  eternal  snows,  to  a  height  of  20,000  feet.  We  were  the 
first  French  travelers  and  Catholic  missionaries  to  appear 
there  (1892). ^^  There  was  question  of  founding  a  mission 
station  on  the  mountain.  Fumba,  the  chief  of  Kilima,  greatly 
desired  that  we  should  remain,  but  he  required  us,  first 
of  all,  to  proceed  to  the  solemn  ceremony  of  ^'fraterniza- 
tion" (in  aboriginal  America,  "totemization" ) .  I  was  desig- 
nated for  the  affair.  2"^  At  the  appointed  hour,  with  all  the 
warriors  of  the  tribe  present,  Fumba  and  I  sat  down  on  the 
same  ox-hide  in  the  great  square  of  the  village.  Our  sponsors 
successively  began  to  question  us  and  to  heap  terrible  impre- 
cations upon  us  in  case  we  should  be  unfaithful  to  our  alliance. 
Then  a  white  goat  was  slain.  In  Fumba's  arm  and  in  mine 
they  made  a  gash  from  which  the  blood  flowed.  The  victim's 
liver  was  cut  into  six  pieces  that  were  then  smeared  with  this 
blood,  after  which  we  gave  them  to  each  other  to  eat. 

The  blood  of  Fumba  was  now  mine,  mine  was  his,  and  we 
were  "brothers"  (in  Swahali  ndugu,  in  Chippeway  otem)  :  we 
were  united  in  friendship,  counsel,  aid,  and  assistance,  our 
interests  were  common,  our  families  were  sister-families.  That 
was  many  years  ago:  in  the  midst  of  all  the  revolutions  and 
w^ars  which  the  Kilimanjaro  has  since  waged  against  Euro- 
peans, Fumba  has  not  violated  his  word  for  a  single  day — 
nor  I  mine.  My  sons,  that  is  the  men  of  my  race,  the  Catholic 
missionaries  present  and  future,  have  become  his  sons,  as 
also  the  children  of  Fumba,  that  is  the  men  of  Kilima,  have 
become  mine :  they  are  brothers  and  allies. 

If  this  relationship  by  exchange  of  blood  is  not  exactly  totem- 
ism,  it  is  at  least  very  close  to  it  and  will  help  us  understand  it. 

Let  us  picture  primitive  man  marching  ahead  and  pushing 
his  explorations  further  into  a  mysterious  world  that  extends 

^The  expedition  was  composed  of  Mgr.  de  Courmont,  Eev.  A,  Gommen- 
ginger,  Rev.  A.  Le  Roy,  and  about  sixty  men.  Since  then  three  mission 
stations  have  been  established  there:  they  are  all  very  prosperous. 

="  See  Au  KiUma-Ndjaro,  by  Rev.  A.  Le  Roy,  p.  231. 


80  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

wider  the  further  he  penetrates  it.  ISTowhere  is  there  any 
creature  that  resembles  him,  that  has  his  way  of  standing  or 
walking,  his  features,  his  language.  Everywhere  there  are 
different  beings,  climbing,  walking,  flying,  swimming,  dig- 
ging into  the  earth,  preceding  him  in  the  conquest  of  the 
world. 

If  he  is  their  superior  in  many  respects,  in  others  he  feels 
his  weakness  in  their  presence.  Had  he  but  the  monkey's 
agility,  the  elephant's  strength,  the  leopard's  cunning,  the  ser- 
pent's acuteness,  if  he  were  only  a  little  bird ! 

This  idea,  which  so  naturally  presents  itself  to  the  infant 
mind,  was  the  idea,  also,  of  the  man-child;  he  has  kept  it  to 
the  present  time,  and  even  pretends  to  have  realized  it. 

We  are  not  here  speaking  merely  of  his  transforming  himself 
into  an  animal  of  his  choice  through  fancy  and  curiosity. 
Although  primitive  man  is  driven  as  much  by  the  exigencies 
of  the  dangerous  surroundings  in  which  he  lives  as  by  the 
instinct  of  his  nature  to  guard  himself  against  his  family,  he 
is  equally  impelled  by  all  his  interests  to  extend  his  relations 
and  alliances.  The  more  he  has  of  them,  the  stronger  will  be 
his  family. 

But  what  most  of  all  constitutes  the  family  is  community 
of  blood.  The  primitive  can,  then,  with  such  and  such  men 
whose  friendship,  power,  and  fidelity  he  values,  make  a  pact 
of  alliance  sealed  by  the  exchange  of  blood  and  consecrated  by 
an  appropriate  ceremony.  After  that  they  are  of  the  same 
relationship — ndugUj  as  they  say  in  eastern  Africa;  ntene  in 
Guinea;  totem,  according  to  the  expression  borrowed  from  the 
redskins. 

Man,  however,  is  not  the  only  being  with  whom  it  is  possible 
to  make  such  a  pact.  Thanks  to  mysterious  practices  that  are 
the  secret  of  the  initiated  but  which  always  involve  an  exchange 
of  blood,  it  is  possible  to  summon  an  animal,  the  chief  of  a 
herd  or  band,  to  win  his  favor,  to  profit  by  his  powers  as  well 
as  his  secrets,  to  disguise  one's  self,  to  become  his  '^brother," 
to  conclude  an  alliance  with  him  and  his  race. 

^^There  are  some  people,"  they  will  tell  you  at  Zanzibar 
and  throughout  Africa,  *'who  have  an  animal  for  a  companion. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  81 

Man  and  beast  know  each  other.  They  aid  each  other.  When 
the  man  has  need  of  the  beast,  he  calls  it,  and  it  conies."  ^^ 

But  let  us  not  deceive  ourselves.  By  this  alliance,  the  man's 
purpose  is  not  to  win  over  the  animal  merely  as  such  and  to 
associate  its  family  to  his,  but  rather  that  animal  as  reenforced 
by  the  presence  and  action  of  a  spirit  of  the  invisible  world — the 
soul  of  the  animal  itself,  the  spirit  of  its  ancestors,  or  the 
tutelary  genius  of  extra-human  origin.  Consequently  this  pact 
Ijy  means  of  a  visible  creature  is  a  pact  tuith  the  iiivisihle  world. 

After  living  a  long  time  under  the  favor  of  a  magical  pact, 
in  close  and  friendly  relations  with  some  animal,  a  chief  is 
about  to  die.  If  he  gathers  about  him  those  of  his  children  who 
can  understand,  and  communicates  his  secret  to  them,  if  he 
orders  them  to  maintain  this  pact  and  gives  them  to  under- 
stand that  his  spirit,  on  leaving  its  human  abode,  will  like  to 
come  back  among  them  under  the  appearance  of  his  animal- 
brother,  we  can  see  how  totemism  or  animal  relationship  will 
be  formed  for  his  descendants.  As  this  family  spreads,  multi- 
plies, and  scatters,  its  representatives  will  take  with  them,  if 
not  the  precise  recollection,  at  least  the  trace  of  this  origin, 
manifested  by  the  different  interdicts  or  taboos  that  will  be 
established  in  regard  to  the  family  of  the  beast,  now  become 
sacred :  this  beast  will  become  their  "relative" ;  they  will  often 
take  its  name,  bear  its  mark,  and  pay  homage  to  it,  they  will 
believe  that  after  death  their  souls  will  have  a  place  in  its 
mysterious  society:  and  this  belief  will  sustain  the  piety  of 
their  descendants. 

Such  would  be,  according  to  our  opinion,  true  totemism. 
But  it  is  possible  and  even  probable  that  in  many  cases  this 
institution,  once  accepted,  might  be  traced  back  through  assim- 
ilation to  other  origins. 

If,  for  example,  an  ancestor,  respected  or  feared  as  a  famous 
sorcerer,  announces  or  in  some  way  makes  known,  that  at  his 
death  his  soul  will  pass  into  a  certain  creature,  this  declaration 
will  suffice  to  create  the  totemistic  worship  among  his  de- 
scendants. 

^  The  words  of  a  native  literally  translated.     { Note  of  Father  Sacleux, ) 


82  THE  EBLIGION  OF  THE  PKIMITIVES 

If  someone  has  remarked  the  friendliness  of  a  particular 
animal,  the  assiduity  with  which  it  frequents  a  certain  place, 
its  manner  of  appearing,  and  a  thousand  similar  incidents, 
the  "seer"  will  be  consulted;  and  finally  it  will  be  decided 
that  these  manifestations  come  from  a  particular  supernatural 
sympathy  with  which  one  must  correspond. 

Under  such  circumstances,  a  newly  formed  secret  society,  a 
family  just  founded,  or  an  individual  who  wishes  to  succeed, 
chooses  a  totem  that  becomes  an  emblem  and  a  symbol. 

We  might  multiply  these  examples.  A  totemic  alliance 
always  supposes  at  its  base  an  explicit  or  implicit  pact,  and  a 
pact  implies  reciprocity  of  respect  and  services.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  allied  animal,  accustomed  to  the  assiduous  cares 
of  his  human  family,  is,  so  to  speak,  '^domesticated''  among 
them  and  often  shows  astonishing  friendliness,  thereby  impress- 
ing these  simple  people  and  confirming  them  in  their  faith. 

If  you  wish  to  follow  totemism  in  its  multitudinous  manifes- 
tations, as  pointed  out  by  Tylor,  Frazer,  Durkheim,  and 
Keinach,  you  will  see  that  our  interpretation,  based  on  the 
mentality  and  the  data  of  the  natives,  gives  us  an  explanation 
of  all  that  confuses  these  scholars. 

It  is  because  of  relationship  ritually  obtained  by  community 
of  blood,  that  the  totem  animal  is  neither  killed  nor  eaten  nor 
abused,  but  on  the  contrary  often  treated  with  care,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  family. 

That  explains  the  mourning  when  they  find  one  dead.  It 
is  the  reason  why  they  bury  it  with  the  same  honors  as  a 
relative  and  why,  if  they  kill  one  under  the  stress  of  urgent 
necessity,  they  offer  excuses  and  by  various  artifices  try  to 
attenuate  the  offense. 

That  is  why  they  weep  after  sacrificing  it  for  the  purpose  of 
renewing  the  ancient  alliance  with  it  by  an  exchange  of  blood 
and  communion;  why  they  clothe  themselves  in  its  skin  for 
certain  religious  ceremonies;  why  they  take  its  mark,  carry 
its  name,  dance  and  sing  after  its  fashion;  why  members  of 
the  same  totemic  group  often  in  their  legends  call  themselves 
related  to  the  animal  totem  by  the  bond  of  a  common  descent; 


THE  PEIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  83 

wliy  these  members  recognize  one  another  as  relatives  by  the 
mark  and  name  they  bear  and  why  they  do  not  intermarry; 
in  fine,  why,  because  of  a  just  reciprocity  coming  from  a  pact 
concluded  by  the  other  party  and  faithfully  observed,  the 
animal  relative,  when  it  is  a  dangerous  beast,  spares  the  mem- 
bers of  its  human  family,  i.e.,  only  those  who  belong  to  it  by 
birth,  by  blood.  A  member  of  this  group  who  is  attacked,  bitten, 
or  killed  by  this  animal,  is  evidently  not  truly  one  of  the  fam- 
ily or  else,  because  of  some  public  or  secret  crime,  he  no  longer 
deserves  to  belong  to  it. 

Hence,  in  a  general  way,  the  totem  animal,  plant,  or  other 
object  aids  and  protects  its  own,  announces  the  future  to  them, 
guides  them,  cures  them  of  certain  diseases,  and  warns  them  of 
imminent  dangers. 

AJl  these  solutions,  which  now  appear  so  simple  to  us,  answer 
the  difficulties  of  those  scholars  who  have  been  occupied  with 
the  question  of  totems,  in  particular  Frazer  and  Keinach.^^ 

But  this  is  not  all.  Besides  the  need  man  has  felt  of  having 
allies  in  the  mysterious  world  about  him  and  of  assuring  him- 
self of  their  services  by  a  religious  pact  with  reciprocal  trans- 
mission of  blood,  he  has  another  instinctive  need :  that  of  form- 
ing himself  into  a  separate  community,  distinguishing  himself 
from  neighboring  groups,  often  jealous,  rival,  and  hostile, 
maintaining  himself  with  his  own,  according  to  his  special 
temperament,  ideas,  needs,  and  "manner.'^  That  is  why  we 
see  all  men,  even  the  most  primitive,  form  themselves  into 
families  and  groups,  taking  a  name  to  distinguish  them. 
Often  the  best  they  find  is  that  of  some  animal  whose  strength, 
cunning,  agility,  or  beauty  they  have  remarked,  or  a  plant 
that  was  useful  to  them  and  peculiar  to  their  country,  or  some 
object  or  phenomenon  that  struck  them.  Thus  arose  the  use 
of  the  ancestral  eponym,^^  to  whom  a  family,  a  clan,  a  phratry, 
or  a  tribe  traces  its  origin  and  name. 

This  method  of  distinction  was  also  one  of  recognition.     It 

^  Frazer.     Totemism;  Reinach,  op.  cit. 

'"Eponym  (from  eiri,  and  ovofxa,  name),  the  hypothetical  person  from 
whom  a  race,  a  kingdom,  or  a  city  is  supposed  to  have  tsiken  its  name;  also 
the  name  so  derived. 


84  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

was  important  for  them  to  follow  their  genealogy  carefully  so 
as  not  to  mingle  the  blood  of  relatives,  in  obedience  to  the 
severe  prohibition  against  consanguineous  marriage.  Thus,  by 
means  of  the  name  that  distinguished  them,  they  readily  main- 
tained the  family  according  to  the  established  rules;  the 
^'leopard,"  for  instance,  would  not  contract  marriage  with 
another  ''leopard,"  the  ''hare''  with  a  "hare,"  etc.  In  those 
countries  where  there  is  no  writing,  each  one  carries  his  cer- 
tificate of  citizenship  about  with  him. 

Because  of  this  same  preoccupation,  they  determine  for  each 
social  group  certain  characteristic  dances,  ornaments,  mutila- 
tions, tattooing,  etc.,  often  recalling  the  totem.  Their  manner 
of  life,  of  amusements,  of  fighting,  the  arrangements  of  the 
encampments  and  villages,  their  mutilations,  dress,  ornaments, 
etc.,  all  these  are  intended  to  affirm  the  line  of  descent  to  which 
they  belong. 

But  it  is  especially  the  wars  carried  on  by  surprises,  treach- 
ery, and  terrible  confusion,  that  have  forced  on  relatives  and 
allies  the  necessity  of  recognizing  one  another.  Hence  we  see  that 
each  social  group  has,  not  only  its  war  costume,  but  its  special 
kind  of  arrows,  bows,  spears,  cutlasses,  missiles,  drums,  horns, 
and  particularly  shields  which  often  bear  veritable  coats-of- 
arms.  Consequently  every  black  man  of  Africa  can  tell  the 
tribe  and  family  of  any  other  who  passes  through  his  village 
or  whom  he  meets  on  the  road  or  with  whom  he  enters  into 
combat. 

So  the  need  both  of  distinguishing  himself  and  of  allying 
himself,  has  urged  man  to  the  practice  of  totemism.  Which  of 
these  two  natural  instincts  preceded  the  other?  It  is  hard 
to  say;  and  it  is  useless  to  try  to  find  out.  Let  it  suffice  for 
us  to  note  the  resemblance  and  the  reality. 

We  will  not  insist  on  the  preference  given  to  the  animal 
kingdom  in  the  totemic  alliance.  In  the  surrounding  world, 
the  animal  approaches  nearest  to  man.  In  the  eyes  of  the 
primitive  it  has  also  certain  mysterious  powers;  it  has  fasci- 
nating charms,  it  can  make  itself  invisible,  and  foretell  the 
changes  of  weather,  accidents,  good  fortune ;  it  always  manages 
to  live  even  where  man  starves  to  death,  it  is  in  relation  with 


THE  PRIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  85 

the  world  of  spirits;  most  important  of  all,  it  alone  has  that 
element  which  by  its  exchange  establishes  alliance  or  relation- 
ship, namely  blood.  All  our  interests,  then,  induce  us  to  unite 
ourselves  to  an  animal,  and  by  it  to  the  mysterious  beings 
with  whom  it  is  in  relation. 

The  vegetable,  mineral,  and  other  totems  are  merely  an 
extension  of  the  former,  and  man  can  derive  the  same  advan- 
tages from  them.  It  all  depends  on  the  nature  of  each.  Kec- 
ognizing  the  services  they  could  expect  from  a  carnivorous 
animal,  for  example,  a  reptile,  or  a  bird,  so  too,  following  other 
inspirations,  they  have  made  a  sacred  alliance  with  a  tree  or 
other  object  remarkable  for  some  special  property.  The  ances- 
tor has  designated  it  as  being  his  "ally,"  and  it  is  received  as 
such:  thenceforth  it  is  a  national  tree  or  the  national  object.^^ 

The  totem  is  not  always  a  free  choice.  It  is  imposed  either 
by  an  inspiration  that  it  sends  or  by  a  manifestation  of  the 
advantage  that  it  brings  or  by  a  series  of  circumstances  that 
cause  its  acceptance. 

Once  the  principle  is  adopted,  each  one  is  obliged  to  apply 
it  to  himself  or  to  his  children.  This  is  why  in  America,  where 
the  institution  is  much  more  developed  or  better  maintained 
than  elsewhere,  each  redskin  has  his  totem  that  he  bestows  on 
himself  or  that  has  been  given  him  by  another,  generally  after 
a  revelation  in  the  form  of  a  dream.  "Usually  he  carries  a 
mark  or  symbol  of  it  on  his  body,  his  armor,  his  clothes.  He 
marks  it  on  his  hut  and  on  his  canoe.  He  regards  as  relatives 
the  animals  having  the  same  name,  abstains  from  killing  them, 
and  invokes  them  in  danger."  ^^ 

In  Africa  the  father,  the  mother,  or  the  head  of  the  family 
generally  gives  these  individual  totems  to  a  child  at  the  time 
of  his  initiation,  on  the  advice  of  the  sorcerer.  But  they 
bear  rather  the  character  of  taboos,  i.e.,  names  one  must  not 
pronounce,  animals  or  objects  one  must  not  look  at,  etc.,  under 

"  Of  five  hundred  cases  noted,  there  are  forty  examples  of  totems  relating 
to  inanimate  things,  and  only  four  or  five  relating  to  the  heavenly  bodies. 
This  great  scarcity  is  an  argument  against  naturism.  (From  E.  Durk- 
heim. ) 

"  Reville,  Les  religions  des  peuples  non  civilises,  I,  p.  223. 


86  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

pain  of  death  or  sickness.     Of  these  we  shall  later  on  have 
occasion  to  speak. 

We  now  have  the  necessary  elements  to  form  an  exact  idea 
of  the  origin,  of  the  raison  d'etre,  and  of  the  philosophy  of  what 
it  has  been  agreed  to  call  totemism. 

In  a  general  way  totemism  rests  on  the  idea  that  man  not^ 
only  can  enter  into  relation  with  the  invisible  and  supernatural 
world,  but  can  also  conclude  a  pact  of  allegiance  with  it,  valid 
for  himself  and  his  posterity. 

As  the  representatives  of  the  supernatural  world  can  not  be^ 
reached  directly  and  as  they  have  ordinarily  no  immediate  rela- 
tions with  us,  it  is  necessary  to  treat  with  them  through 
visible  beings  to  whom  we  address  ourselves  and  whom  we 
make  our  allies.  This  result  is  obtained  by  magical  ceremonies, 
implying,  in  their  primitive  essence,  a  pact,  with  exchange  of 
blood,  a  sacrifice,  and  a  communion.  The  community  of  blood 
establishes  community  of  life:  and  as  animals  are  the  only 
beings  able  to  furnish  this  element  of  the  first  importance,  it 
is  especially  with  animals — transformed  and,  if  I  may  say  so, 
supematuralized  by  the  presence  of  a  spirit^ — ^that  such  alli- 
ance is  made.  Other  beings  will  be  taken  only  if  particular 
circumstances  show  that  the  protecting  spirit  will  manifest 
itself  to  such  a  family  or  individual  through  them. 

The  ancestor,  having  advantageously  employed  the  totem, 
bequeathes  its  name,  remembrance,  and  worship  to  his  descend- 
ants, to  the  family  which  is  the  continuation  of  his  person  after 
he  has  disappeared.  The  family  receives  it  as  a  sacred  testa- 
ment. Thereby  the  members  of  a  family  are  grouped  under 
a  common  name  for  their  mutual  recognition  and  to  distinguish 
them  from  strangers  as  also  to  assure  the  purity  of  their  blood 
— united  by  a  sacred  pact  to  the  blood  of  the  totem — by  regard 
for  the  prohibitions  that  have  been  imposed  on  them.  They 
also  make  use  of  it  to  maintain  the  ancient  alliance,  to  renew 
it  at  times,  and  to  welcome  its  mysterious  blessings. 

As  soon  as  the  children  of  the  family  reach  adolescence  and 
may  be  considered  men,  elaborate  initiations  reveal  to  them  this 
mystic  relationship,  the  advantages  it  confers,  the  obligations 


k 


THE  PEIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  87 

and  prohibitions  it  imposes,  and  the  penalties  exacted  from 
those  who  despise  it. 

Then,  generally,  a  special  ceremony  assures  the  renewal  of 
the  pact  with  the  newly  initiated.  The  special  marks  of  the 
family  are  given  him,  which  consecrate  this  initiation  and 
become  his  rallying  sign.  IsTew  prohibitions  are  imposed  on 
him ;  and  others,  that  he  has  had  to  keep  until  then,  are  removed.  I  /  '  /-r, 
His  childhood  is  over:  now  he  is  a  man,  a  man  of  the  i 
^^family."  ^ 

Undoubtedly  the  institution  is  not  everywhere  found  in 
the  totality  and  purity  of  its  primitive  phases.  But  we  can 
entirely  reconstruct  it  by  the  survivals  that  remain,  all  of 
which  refer  to  identical  conceptions. 

After  this  exposition,  does  totemism  keep  the  fundamental      (^,^ 
importance  that  many  have   tried   to   give   it?     We   do   not 
think  so.  , 

Totemism  is  a  means  employed  by  primitive  man  to  unite,  t 
distinguish,    strengthen,    and   extend    the   family,    through    a 
magical  pact. 

It  creates  neither  the  religious  conscience  nor  morality  nor     ^ 
belief  in  spirits  nor  sacrifice  nor  communion:  on  the  contrary,    ^ 
it  supposes  all  these  as  already   existing,  and  uses  them  to 
perpetuate  itself.    To  make  an  alliance  with  an  invisible  being, 
it  is  necessary  to  believe  that  it  exists :  you  do  not  ally  your-  / 
self  with  nothing. 

It  is,  then,  not  the  primitive  religion,  it  is  not  even  a  religion^ 
nor  even  a  part  of  religion.  It  is  a  family  and  social  magicalV 
pact. 

In  conclusion,  we  will  offer  a  definition  of  totemism:  ^^an  \ 
institution  consisting  essentially  of  a  magical  pact,  representing 
and  forming  a  relationship  of  a  mystical  and  supernatural 
order,  by  which,  under  the  visible  form  of  an  animal  and,  by 
exception,  of  a  vegetable,  mineral,  or  astral  body,  an  invisible 
spirit  is  associated  with  an  individual,  a  family,  a  clan,  a  tribe, 
a  secret  society,  in  view  of  a  reciprocity  of  services." 

In  considering  the  different  works  relative  to  the  history 
of  religions  in  their  origins  and  transmission,  one  is  surprised 


88  THE  EEUGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

to  note  that  tlie  importance  of  the  family  in  the  conservation 
of  beliefs  and  worship,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  noticed. 

It  is  true  that  the  sociological  school  notes,  even  exaggerates, 
the  influence  exercised  on  religion  by  tradition,  education,  sug- 
gestion, authority,  etc.  But  it  goes  too  far  in  making  society 
the  generative  cause  of  all  religion. 

If  this  doctrine  were  true,  the  isolated  man  would  have  re- 
mained the  passive  atheist  that  it  makes  him  at  the  beginning, 
as  we  have  already  remarked.  But  the  ISTegrillos,  who  live  in 
a  state  of  dispersion  in  Africa,  have  a  religion  and  morality 
perfectly  well  defined.  And  do  we  not  also  know  from  the 
example  of  the  anchorites  that  solitude  is,  on  the  contrary, 
very  conducive  to  the  nourishing  of  religious  thought? 

Moreover,  for  society  to  exalt  the  religious  phenomenon,  the 
latter  must,  evidently,  exist  previously  to  the  individual  con- 
science. 

When  a  religious  man  obeys  an  exterior  force,  in  which  he 
believes  and  to  which  he  submits,  he  feels  that  this  force  is 
not  society,  nor  even  the  sacerdotal  authority  considered  in 
itself;  this  "compelling  power"  comes  from  above:  it  comes 
from  the  Invisible. 

In  the  first  ages  of  humanity,  society  was  no  doubt  for  a 
long  time  without  any  effect  on  religion,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  it  was  a  long  time  in  the  process  of  formation,  in  a  world 
where  there  were  no  frontiers,  where  men,  dispersing  in  all 
directions,  nowhere  formed  large  groups.  But  the  family  is 
♦probably  an  institution  of  all  times;  this  is  the  conclusion 
^reached  by  E.  Crawley  in  a  study  of  his  on  primitive  marriage : 

"It  may  be  confidently  assumed  that  individual  marriage  has 
been,  so  far  as  we  can  trace  it  back,  the  regular  type  of  union 
of  man  and  woman.  The  promiscuity  theory  really  belongs  to 
the  mythological  stage  of  human  intelligence  .  .  .  these 
myths  are  interesting  but  of  no  scientific  value."  ^^ 

The  primitive  family  after  it  had  received  religion  under 
conditions  that  remained  still  to  be  determined,  presei'ved  it 
and  assured  its  transmission  while  incorporating  itself  in  it  in 

"  E.  Crawley,  The  Mystic  Rose,  a  Study  of  Primitive  Ma/rriage,  p.  483. 


THE  PEIMITIVE  AND  THE  FAMILY  89 

such  a  way  that  no  notable  phase  of  family  life  could  dispense 
with  religion  and  no  important  manifestation  of  religion  could 
be  produced  outside  the  family  and  without  it. 

In  its  own  way,  exogamy  has  beyond  question  had  a  moral- 
izing influence  on  the  family;  that  is  why  it  was  maintained. 

But  we  can  not  say  the  same  for  totemism.  Totemism 
became  attached  to  the  institution  of  the  family  and  the  clan, 
as  everywhere  magic  became  attached  to  religion.  As  its 
action  was  of  a  superstitious  nature,  it  has  been  able  to  dis- 
appear not  only  without  inconvenience  but  even  with  profit. 
Keligion  alone  sufiices  to  maintain  the  family. 


CHAPTEE  IV 
BELIEF 

The  Invisible  World,  the  Soul,  Manes,  and  Spirits,  God 

The  Three  Planes  of  the  Invisible  World 

I.  The  Human  Soul.  Its  nature.  What  the  Bantu  languages  tell  us. 
Some  reconciliations.  The  different  forms  of  the  soul.  Material- 
ization. Whence  comes  the  idea  of  the  soul?  Death  and  funerals: 
their  teaching. 
II.  The  Manes.  Where  do  disembodied  souls  go?  The  shade.  Th€ 
Mzimu.     Toward  higher  regions.     Ghosts.     Survival. 

III.  Spirits.     Tutelary  spirits.     What  language  teaches  us.     Bad  spirits. 

No  "Prince  of  evil."  Grenii.  New  examination  of  naturism  and 
animism. 

IV.  God.     Belief  in  God  shown  by  his  name.     New  appeal  to  the  Bantu 

languages.  Some  misunderstandings.  A  sign  of  regression.  Other 
remarks.  Where  is  God?  Who  is  he?  Whence  does  he  come? 
The  reply  of  scholars;  the  reply  of  the  primitives.  What  are  his 
attributes?  Two  competent  witnesses.  The  religious  faith  of  the 
Bantus. 

However  little  we  may  have,  up  to  this  point,  entered  into 
tlie  primitives'  general  conceptions  of  beings  and  things,  yet 
we  have  noted  that  for  them  this  visible,  material,  and  exper- 
imental nature  of  which  we  form  one  element — ^the  living, 
animated,  and  rational  element^ — is  only  a  part  of  the  universe. 
There  is  another  part:  as  the  full  day  comprises  two  parts, 
one  dark  and  the  other  light,  so  the  present  life  is  prolonged 
into  a  further  life  where,  so  to  speak,  the  visible  world  is 
duplicated  in  an  invisible  world. 

But  of  what  does  this  invisible  world  consist?  What  are 
its  elements?  If  we  were  not  constantly  afraid  of  altering 
the  beliefs  of  our  natives  by  trying  to  put  them  in  order,  we 
would  say  that  for  them,  the  invisible  world  is  formed  of  three 
degrees,  the  first  of  which  would  be  made  up  of  the  manes  of 

90 


(9^ 


BELIEF  91 


the  dead,  tlie  second  tlie  spirits  of  extra-human  origin,  the 
/-sS  third  would  he  that  sovereign  Being  whom  we  have  already  met 
!  ^  as  the  mysterious  Master  of  nature.     We  find  no  juster  name 

to  give  him  than  "God." 

I.     The  Human  Soul    .  ^t^^^:*^--^- --^-»-»^' 

On  the  lowest  plane,  are  the  manes,  that  is  to  say  the  human 
souls  disengaged  hy  death  from  the  honds  of  corporeal  matter 
and  continuing  to  live  their  life  in  the  "over  there."  It  is 
almost  in  this  sense  that  the  Latins  use  the  word  "manes."  ^ 

This  belief  in  the  manes  and  the  worship  paid  them  are  so 
characteristic  among  our  Blacks  that  their  religion  has  some- 
times been  designated  by  the  name  of  manism.  A  good  observer, 
an  English  major,  Arthur  Glynn  Leonard,  in  a  work  on  the 
natives  of  the  Lower  Niger,  wrote  these  words  that  we  can 
apply  to  all  the  human  groups  of  the  African  continent, 
JSTegrillos,  San,  Hottentots,  Bantus,  Negritians,  and  even  the 
Hamites. 

"Among  the  Ibo  and  other  Delta  tribes,  the  belief  in  the 
existence  of  the  human  soul  is  universal.  To  them  it  is  an  active 
principle  that  is  awake  and  about  when  the  body  is  asleep. 
Further,  it  appears  as  a  something  indefinite  and  indefinable, 
an  invisible  and  yet  to  some  extent  tangible  essence  apart  from, 
and  of  different  texture  to  the  material  body,  which  leaves  the 
latter  during  sleep,  or  for  good  at  dissolution."  ^ 

According  to  the  teaching  of  philosophy,  the  human  soul 
is  a  simple  spiritual  substance,  and  hence  immaterial,  intel- 
ligent, free,  and  immortal.  But  to  attain  to  this  idea  and 
preserve  it  intact,  according  to  St.  Thomas,  much  study  and 

*The  diflference  is  first  of  all  that  the  Latins  placed  the  "manes"  in  the 
underground  world,  while  the  Blacks  give  thera  a  more  extended  dwelling- 
place.  Moreover,  the  word  "manes"  (from  the  old  Latin  word  manus  or 
manis,  "good,"  which  we  find  in  the  compound  immanis)  means,  strictly 
speaking,  the  "benevolent  spirits"  as  opposed  to  larvoe  and  lemures,  "malev- 
olent spirits,"  ghosts,  phantoms.  Cf.  Freund's  Latin  Diet.  Thus  primi- 
tively, manis,  pi.  manes,  was  an  adjective  that  was  added  to  the  word  dii, 
taken  in  the  sense  of  spirits:  dii  manes. 

'  The  Lower  'Niger  and  Its  Tribes,  p.  139. 


92  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

penetration  are  necessary:  There  is  required  a  careful  and 
subtle  inquiry.^  We  can  easily  understand  that  poor  savages, 
without  intellectual  culture,  have  very  confused  ideas  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  soul.  What  astonishes  us  more,  however,  is 
that  their  ideas  have  such  a  firm  and  hroad  foundation.  Let  us 
try  to  understand  them,  first  interrogating  their  languages  and 
inquiring  into  the  sense  of  words  used  hy  them  which  corre- 
spond to  those  we  employ.* 

There  is  the  Bantu  radical  -iina,  signifying  to  he  straight, 
to  stand  up,  and  by  extension  to  he  alive.  It  has  given  birth 
to  a  concrete  noun  heart,  employed  both  literally  and  figur- 
atively, and  to  several  abstract  nouns :  life,  the  principle  of  life, 
conscience,  human  soul,  manes,  according  to  a  gradation  that 
we  can  easily  grasp. 

The  following  abridged  table  will  give  an  idea  of  these 
formations. 

Koot  -IMA,  literally  to  stand  up;  figuratively  to  he  living. 

umu-tima  (Kundi)    mo-dimo  (Duala,       mo-limo  (pi.  ba-) 
principle  of  life,         Subu)  .>;:^.  manes 

soul  "  manes  (Tchwana) 

m-tima  (Nyungwe)    go-djimu  (Lolo)         mo-limo  (N'gala) 
heart,  soul  spirit  soul 

m-tima  (Y-ao)  umu-dzimu  (Kundi)  m-limu  (Teita) 

heart  manes  manes 

m-tima   (Bemba)        umu-zimu  (Zulu)       e-limu  (Lolo) 
soul,  manes  manes  soul 

n-tima  (Sena)  mu-zimo  (Makua) 

heart,  soul  soul,  spirit 

m-rima  (Makua)       m-zimu  (Swahili,  Mka,  etc.) 
heart,  soul  manes 

n-rimu  (Sena) 
soul,  manes 

'  The  Summa  Theologica  of  St.  Thomas;  literally  translated  by  Fathers 
of  the  English  Dominican  Province,  p.  1,  q.  87,  art.  1. 

*The  linguistic  data  that  follow  were  furnished  by  Father  Sacleux, 
C.S.Sp.,  former  missionary  in  Eastern  Africa.  Father  Sacleux  may  be 
considered  as  the  one  at  present  best  acquainted  with  the  Bantu  languages. 


BELIEF  93 

A  larger  number  of  other  languages  have  ingrafted  the 
same  ideas  on  the  idea  of  breath,  wind,  the  regular  phenom- 
enon of  breathing  having  been  more  generally  considered  as 
the  indication  of  life  in  animate  beings. 

Koot  -OYA   (Tonga  of  the  Upper  Zambesi)   breathe. 

mu-oya  (Tonga)        onw-oyo  (Ganda)         m-otyo  (Pokomo) 
air,  wind  heart  (seat  of  life)       heart,  life,  soul 

m-onyo  (Vili)  m-oyo  (Swahili,  N'ika)lx)-moto  (Yanzi) 

life,  soul  i  ..^leart,  life,  soul  soul 

omu-inyo  (Herero)     m-oyo  (Shuna)  Etc.^ 

life,  soul  heart,  soul 

omw-enyo  (J^yaneka)  ^  m-oyo  (Teita,  ISTyandjya,  etc.) 
heart,  breath,  soul  life,  soul 

in-ina  (?)  (Mpongwe)  um-oyo   (Dyonga) 
soul,  manes  soul 

In  still  other  languages,  the  word  signifying  the  human  shade 
is  used  also  to  designate  the  soul:  such  is  the  case  with  the 
Ean  word  nsisim,^  whether  it  be  that  in  the  native  thought 
the  soul  and  the  shade  have  a  common  nature  or  that  the  one 
is  the  manifestation  of  the  other. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  different  expressions  with 
those  that  have  been  transmitted  to  us  by  the  Hebrew  nephes 
and  ruah,  the  Sanskrit  atman,  the  Slav  diich,  the  Greek  aveixos, 
TTvevjjLa  and  <7/cta,  the  Latin  animus,  anima,  spiritus,  and 
umbra.  The  Bantu  languages  appeal  to  the  same  figures  as 
ours  to  express  that  something  unrepresentable  which  the  prim- 
itive, like  the  civilized  man,  considers  as  the  "principle  of  life" 
in  us,  that  seems  to  reside  in  the  heart,  that  shines  in  the 
eyes,  that  disappears  with  the  last  breath  and  seems  to  be 
identified  with  it,  that  is  projected  without  in  a  moving  shade, 
and  which,  at  the  same  time,  reveals  its  presence  in  us  by  a 
will,  an  intelligence,  and  a  conscience. 

°  The  verb  Oya  is  given  here  merely  as  an  example.  In  other  languages, 
other  verbs  having  the  same  meaning  {to  breathe)  have  similar  derivatives, 
meaning  breath,  prhwiple  of  life,  heart,  sovl. 

'Nsisim,  "shade,  soul,"  by  reduplication  from  Nsm,  "form,  image." 


^i 


94  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PBIMITIVES 

What  is  this  mystery  ? 

Is  the  human  soul  all  that  at  the  same  time,  or  do  these 
different  manifestations  require  several  substances  ?  In  reality, 
the  Blacks  know  nothing  at  all  about  it.  They  have  no  con- 
sistent theory  on  the  subject;  their  psychological  ideas  do  not 
retreat  in  the  presence  of  grave  incoherencies ;  and  you  may 
say  of  all  the  Bantus  what  Dennett  writes  about  the  Ba-vili  of 
Loango : 

"Even  in  the  country  in  which  I  have  lived,  although  the 
white  man  has  been  there  over  four  hundred  years,  I  doubt  if 
there  are  many  who  could  enter  into  this  subject  with  any 
great  hope  of  giving  you  a  definite  idea  of  the  difference  a 
native  draws  between  life,  shadow,  breath,  and  intelligence  on 
the  one  hand  and  ghost,  soul,  and  spirit  on  the  other."  ^ 

The  ancient  Egyptians  have  rendered  us  a  service  in  leaving 
behind  them  monuments,  paintings,  and  inscriptions  that  per- 
mit modern  scholars  to  reconstruct  the  Egyptian  theory  of 
the  soul,  with  a  precision  of  outline  in  which  perhaps  the 
ancient  philosophers  of  the  I^ile  valley  would  not  recognize 
themselves  but  against  which  none  of  them  could  protest.  A 
double  (ha)  airy  projection  of  the  body  is  repeatedly  found 
in  the  tombs;  a  more  completely  separated  substance  (Bi  or 
Bai)  which  they  considered  as  the  essence  of  human  nature, 
flies  towards  the  ^^other-land,"  like  a  bird,  and  is  able  at  pleasure 
to  leave  the  tomb  or  reenter  it.  Another  luminous  principle 
(hhou)  abandons  the  world  and  joins  the  procession  of  the 
gods;  there  is  also  the  heart  that  is  manifested  as  conscience 
during  life  and  a  witness  after  death. ^ 

But,  aside  from  this  precision  of  doctrine,  which  perhaps 
belongs  less  to  the  philosophers  of  the  E'ile  valley  than  to 
those  of  the  Seine  or  Thames,  we  are  struck  by  the  curious 
analogy  to  be  observed  between  the  beliefs  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians  and  those  of  the  Bantus  of  to-day. 

In  the  case  of  the  latter,  whether  the  human  soul  has  several 
distinct  forms  or  several  manners  of  manifesting  itself    it  is 

'Dennett,  op.  oit.,  p.  79. 

•G.  Maspero,  Histoire  ancienne  des  peuples  de  VOrient,  p.  43. 


BELIEF  95 

the  soul  that  beats  in  the  heart  and  arteries,  that  breathes, 
that  shines  in  the  eye:  it  is  the  sonl  that  is  the  principle  of 
life  and,  as  such,  disappears  momentarily  when  a  man  falls 
into  a  swoon  or  lethargy  and  definitely  when  he  dies.  Thus 
it  is  a  sort  of  ethereal  substance  which,  during  the  sleep  of 
the  body,  is  visited  by  other  spirits;  it  sees  them,  talks  with 
them,  it  "dreams."  It  is  an  interior  voice  speaking  to  us, 
inspiring  us  with  good  or  wicked  feelings,  urging  us  to  do 
good  or  evil,  causing  us  joy  or  remorse.  Lastly  it  is  repre- 
sented by  that  materialization  of  our  person,  which  is  called 
a  shadow,  more  striking  and  more  living  in  sunny  countries 
than  in  ours;  they  have  not  arrived  at  explaining  it  as  the 
interception  of  light  by  an  opaque  body:  it  rests  in  a  man 
while  he  sleeps  and  follows  him  in  death. 

The  Black,  a  scholastic  of  the  good  school  without  knowing 
it,  attributes  a  ''form''  or  "manner"  to  everything  that  exists, 
mineral,  plant,  or  animal,  instinctively  recognizes  in  man  a 
"something"  by  which  man  lives,  moves,  is  self-conscious,  gov- 
erns himself,  reasons,  talks,  dreams,  and  survives. 

This  "something"  is  distinct  from  the  body,  and  is  not  so 
inseparable  that  it  can  not  leave  it  for  a  time.  So  it  happens 
that  many  persons,  thanks  to  a  particular  charm  they  possess 
in  their  entrails,  often  without  their  knowledge,  a  charm  that 
can  be  found  by  an  autopsy,  wander  about  during  their  sleep, 
occasioning  disease  and  death,  and  vampire-like  sucking  the 
blood  of  sleeping  men,  carry  off  the  heart  of  their  neighbors, 
and  cause  endless  calamities.  Besides  these,  there  are  volun- 
tary sorcerers  who  use  this  power  of  exteriorization  and  deplace- 
ment,  who  also  find  stolen  property,  pass  wherever  they  wish, 
enter  into  animals  to  find  out  their  evil  purposes,  go  at 
night  to  be  present  at  diabolical  gatherings,  or  conceal  them- 
selves under  the  form  of  vapor,  balls  of  fire,  glow-worms, 
nocturnal  birds,  and  many  other  such  objects.  But,  thanks  to 
counter-sorcery,  if  you  attack  these  spirits  under  the  material 
form  >which  they  have  assumed,  if  you  strike  them,  if  you 
kill  '  lem,  it  is  the  sorcerer  that  suffers  and  dies.  That  is  why 
some  people  who  go  quietly  to  sleep  in  the  evening,  never  awake 
again. 


I 


96  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

This  first  point  is  disputed  by  no  one.  Our  African  prim- 
itives believe  in  tbe  existence  of  the  human  soul,  even  though 
forming  a  conception  of  its  nature  that  may  appear  strange 
to  "sane"  philosophy.  This  should  not  surprise  us.  Hov^ 
many  systems  of  psychology  have  already  succeeded  one  another 
in  the  schools  without  any  one  of  them  being  definitely 
accepted ! 

Whence  comes  the  primitive's  idea  of  the  soul? 

It  comes,  reply  the  theorists  of  animism,  from  the  observation 
of  sleep,  dreams,  death,  and  from  the  erroneous  explanation 
of  those  states  or  natural  phenomena  for  which  the  savage  can 
give  no  other  reason. 

This  assertion  seems  to  us  gratuitous  and  undemonstrable. 
It  is,  in  fact,  impossible  to  determine  whence  the  first  men 
derived  the  idea  of  the  soul ;  as  to  the  primitives  of  to-day,  who 
can  say  whether  in  their  mind  this  notion  arises  from  the  obser- 
vation of  these  phenomena  or  whether,  already  existing,  it  serves 
to  explain  them  ? 

This  latter  would  seem  to  be  the  true  hypothesis.  H.  Schell 
has  good  reason  to  write: 

"It  is  evident  that  by  the  soul,  one  has  always  meant  to  signify 
something  else  than  the  breath,  vital  heat  .  .  .  dreams,  a 
shade,  or  an  image  reflected  in  a  mirror.  All  these  phenomena 
together  are  not  sufficient  to  produce  the  idea  of  the  soul.  This 
idea  has  no  need  of  so  many  detours  in  order  to  be  born.  With- 
out all  that,  man  has  recognized  and  does  recognize  this  some- 
thing interior  and  living,  unique  and  elusive,  persistent  and 
invincible,  that  perceives,  judges,  inquires,  doubts,  feels  and 
wills,  loves  and  hates,  fears  and  hopes,  determines  and  is  deter- 
mined, in  which  all  his  impressions  are  concentrated  and 
mingled,  from  which  proceed  all  that  he  does  and  all  that  he 
thinks.  It  is  not  in  coming  to  the  knowledge  and  concept  of 
the  soul  that  the  breath,  the  fire,  the  shade,  the  reflected  image 
are  of  value,  but  in  furnishing,  by  analogy  and  comparison,  an 
image  and  a  name."  ^ 

The  immediate  perception  of  the  acts  of  the  inner  life, 
noticed  at  every  instant  and  in  relation  to  everything,  is  for 

^ Apologie  des  CJi/ristentums,  I,  p.  59  (quoted  by  Schmidt,  Anthropos, 
1908,  p.  360). 


BELIEF  97 

all  men,  civilized  or  savage,  tlie  real  primordial  basis  of  the 
concept  of  the  soul.  But  this  perception,  more  or  less  distinct 
in  each  individual,  is  confirmed  by  a  large  number  of  phe- 
nomena, some  of  which  concern  life,  others  the  after-life,  either 
well  or  poorly  controlled  and  interpreted.  These  phenomena 
have  established  everywhere  in  the  primitive  world  the  abso- 
lute conviction  that  man  is  animated  and  intellectualized  by  a 
substance  which,  while  still  himself,  is  distinct  from  his  body. 

That  is  a  question  of  the  philosophical,  psychological,  and 
profane  order.  It  is  related  to  religion  and  to  magic  also,  but 
neither  of  these  necessarily  finds  its  starting-point  therein. 

Before  determining  this  starting-point,  we  must  continue 
our  examination,  following  the  soul  into  the  mysterious  beyond, 
whither  it  passes  at  the  dissolution  of  the  body  that  it  inhabited. 

Death!  What  is  death  in  the  eyes  of  the  Bantus?  It  is 
the  excorporation  of  the  soul,  the  principle  of  life.  Whether 
God  calls  it  or  the  spirits  oblige  it  to  depart  or  the  charms 
of  sorcerers  break  the  bonds  that  fasten  it  to  the  flesh  or  itself 
aspires  to  be  gone — for  all  these  are  different  causes  of  death — 
the  soul,  at  that  last  hour,  wishes  to  be  separated  from  the 
body.  In  fact,  if  we  watch  the  effort  of  a  dying  man,  the 
convulsions  of  his  body,  the  contractions  of  his  features  and 
limbs,  his  agitation,  dejection,  anguish,  in  a  word  what  we 
ourselves  call  his  agony, '^^  that  is  his  last  struggle,  does  it  not 
seem  that  something  is  there  wishing  to  depart,  something 
powerfully  attached  to  the  material  body  while  yet  painfully 
striving  to  separate  from  it? 

Once  disembodied,  the  soul  bears  a  new  name,  but  it  remains 
substantially  the  same;  herein  the  Bantu  languages  remain 
faithful  to  their  genius  that  employs  distinct  expressions  for 
the  same  being  which  passes  through  different  states. 

]!^aturally  the  ceremonies  that  accompany  death,  and  the 
subsequent  funeral,  vary  in  the  different  tribes.  But  we  may 
say  that  everywhere  they  appear  as  the  most  important  in  the 
course  of  life,  as  well  as  the  most  characteristic  and  indicative 
of  a  belief  in  certain  survival. 

"From  the  Greek   Ayuvia,  ayt^p,  "struggle." 


98  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

In  tlie  visible  world,  the  Black  keeps  his  family  close  about 

bim ;  they  have  every  claim  on  him.     That  same  family  having 

entered  the  invisible  world  under  the  form  of  manes — mi-zimu, 

ahamho,  koma  ^  ^ — is  perpetuated  in  a  sort  of  indefinite  pro- 

\  longation  that  binds  it  to  the  most  recently  deceased,  and  binds 

I  this  latter  to  the  primitive  ancestor.    Between  these  two  worlds, 

the  funeral  rite   is  like   a  mysterious  bridge  that  leads  the 

I  soul  to  its  destination.     If  the  ceremony  is  properly  performed, 

'  the  soul  will  reach  there  and  will  leave  the  survivors  in  peace ; 

if  not,  it  will  feel  itself  abandoned  by  its  own,  wretched,  out 

of  place;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  fear  its  vengeance. 

These  ideas  explain  the  differences  of  treatment  employed 
according  to  the  qualities  and  social  rank  of  the  deceased. 

Criminals,  condemned  persons,  those  convicted  of  sorcery, 
are  pursued  into  the  beyond  by  public  reprobation  and  receive 
no  funeral  honors.  In  most  of  the  tribes,  they  are  burned  in 
a  little  fire  on  a  funeral  pyre  of  ebony,  their  ashes  are  aban- 
doned, and  their  miserable  garments  are  hung  on  a  near-by 
tree.  In  other  places  they  are  thrown  into  the  water.  Some- 
times they  are  killed  and  their  bodies  left  a  prey  to  beasts 
and  ants  that  very  soon  reduce  them  to  nothing.  These  are 
truly  excommunicated. 

Slaves  are  generally  not  the  object  of  any  funeral  ceremony. 
Whether  they  were  bom  in  servitude  or  fell  into  it,  does  not 
this  show  that  their  guardian  spirit  has  no  power?  They  are 
people  of  no  importance ;  the  slave  has  no  family. 

Children,  if  they  die  young,  have  no  right  to  special  honors. 

It  is  otherwise  with  freemen,  with  the  head  of  a  family, 

especially  with  the  head  of  a  village,  and  still  more  so  with 

the  head  of  a  tribe :  they  are  more  honored  at  their  funeral  than 

they  were  at  any  period  of  their  life. 

When  one  of  these  important,  rich  individuals  falls  danger- 
ously ill,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  consult  the  physicians, 
seers,  and  conjurers,  to  administer  medicine  and  offer  sacri- 
fices. Then,  when  the  last  hour  arrives,  all  the  relatives  are 
called.  The  sick  man  makes  his  last  wishes  known,  names 
those  who  are  indebted  to  him,  recalls  business  matters  not  yet 

"  Different  expressions  with  the  same  meaning,  according  to  the  different 
languages. 


BELIEF  99 

concluded,  charges  his  children  with  vengeances  not  yet  satis- 
fied, and  tells  where  his  hiding  places  are. 

The  agony  begins.  His  nearest  of  kin  are  present  and,  in 
certain  tribes,  an  exorcist  is  called  to  drive  away  the  evil  spirits. 
Here  is  one  of  the  songs  employed  on  such  an  occasion  among 
the  Fans  of  Gabon.  You  will  notice  that  the  poet,  instead 
of  saying  things  openly,  employs  allusions  and  figures;  it  is 
the  style  of  all  ritualistic  compositions. 

Song  of  Exorcism  at  the  Last  Hour  ^^ 
(Turning  towards  the  dying  person) 

The  son  ^^  has  gone  to  the  field,  to  see  whether  the  trees  are 
ripe.^* 

Response  1.  The  trees  are  ripe.  The  spirits  are  wandering.  ^^ 
The  time  has  come.     The  night  begins.     The  prisoner  is  free ! 

Refrain:    The  son  has  gone,  etc. 

2.  The  prisoner  is  free.  He  passes  to  the  opposite  shore 
without  looking  back,  without  looking  back. 

Refrain:     The  son  has  gone,  etc. 

3.  The  shadow  has  touched  the  fireside  of  the  hut.  {Yenj 
slowly)  I  see  a  spark  that  passes  like  a  lightning-bug,  that 
turns,  that  flies  around  a  palm  tree.     Yes. 

Lamentations  of  the  women:  yi!  yi!  yi!  yi!  .  .  . 

Here  is  another  song  by  way  of  example. 

O  father,  alas !  alas !  why,  father,  do  you  abandon  your  home  ? 

A  man  has  slain  you,  O  father. 

You  will  seek  ^^  vengeance  for  his  death. 

Your  shade  will  pass  to  the  opposite  shore. 

0  father,  why  do  you  abandon  your  home,  father  ? 

The  sky  has  brightened;  and  the  eyes  have  grown  dim. 

The  water  (the  life)  falls  from  the  tree  drop  by  drop. 

The  rat  (the  soul)  has  gone  forth  from  its  hole. 

See !    It  is  my  father's  house. 

Gather  the  funeral  herbs,  sprinkle  to  right,  sprinkle  to  left. 

A  man  now  sees  the  things  invisible ! 

"  These  chants  are  sung  by  the  women. 

"The  eldest  son,  the  heir. 

"  I.  e.,  to  see  if  the  life  of  the  father  is  ripened. 

"The  spirits  of  the  ancestors  who  come  to  look  for  him. 

"The  women  are  addressing  the  men  present. 


100  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

These  two  songs  deserved  to  be  reproduced :  their  inspiration 
lacks  neither  movement  nor  ideas  nor  beauty.^  ""^ 

As  soon  as  death  is  ascertained,  an  outburst  of  characteristic 
cries,  weeping  and  shrill  laments  rise  and  spread  through  the 
village;  then  silence  returns.  The  relatives  come  to  identify 
the  dead  man.  They  prepare  the  body,  close  the  mouth  and  the 
eyes,  wash  it,  empty  the  stomach  and  intestines  by  pressure; 
in  some  places  they  smear  the  body  with  a  paint  made  of  red 
wood  powdered  and  mixed  in  palm  oil,  they  wrap  it  in  a  pro- 
digious quantity  of  cloth  and,  if  they  have  not  the  practice  of 
waiting  for  it  to  desiccate,  they  bury  it  at  once  with  various 
ceremonies. 

In  Urundi  (northeast  of  Tanganyika)  they  perform  the 
following  ceremony.  The  body  is  carried  out  of  the  house 
and  deposited  near  the  open  grave.  After  the  head  of  the 
defunct  is  partly  uncovered,  his  wife  approaches,  weeps,  kneels 
near  him,  and  anoints  his  head  with  butter,  saying: 

"Be  you  well!     You  were  a  man  hero. 
Go  in  peace,  farewell  P' 

She  anoints  a  second  time  and  continues: 

"Be  you  well !    This  for  your  wife. 
Go  in  peace,  farewell  F' 

Then,  after  a  third  anointing: 

"Be  you  well !    This  for  your  child  ISF  .  .  . 
Go  in  peace,  farewell !"  ^^ 

And  the  ceremony  is  repeated  for  each  child  of  the  deceased. 
This  is  a  touching  expression  of  an  idea  revealing  a  belief  in 
man's  survival  and  even  in  a  certain  reward.  In  recommend- 
ing to  the  spirit  of  the  deceased  "to  be  well,"  the  woman  recalls 
her  husband's  qualities,  wishing  him  a  happy  voyage  in  the 
beyond,  and  taking  leave  of  him  successively  in  the  name  of 
the  village,  of  his  wives,  and  of  each  of  his  children. 

"These  two  songs  were  furnished  me  by  Father  Trilles,  C.S.Sp.,  mis- 
sionary in  Gabon. 

"Rev.  Van  der  Burgt,  Diet,  frang.  kirundi,  art.  "Enterrement." 


BELIEF  101 

In  many  places  the  dead  are  interred  in  their  hut  or  beside 
it.  In  other  places  their  remains  are  deposited  near  the  village ; 
some  have  veritable  cemeteries,  formed  by  sacred  groves  where 
the  dead  are  placed  either  on  the  ground  or  on  a  kind  of  mat; 
or  they  may  be  left  in  deserted  places  near  a  river  bank ;  some- 
times they  are  abandoned  to  the  hyenas,  who  thereby  become 
sacred  animals;  or  they  are  cast  into  the  water;  or  else  they 
are  eaten!  This  last  manner  of  sepulture,  however,  is  prac- 
ticed in  such  manner  that  these  ^^dear''  deceased  are  absorbed 
only  by  neighbors  not  related  to  the  family:  bodies  of  the 
dead  are  exchanged.  Women  and  children  are  not  admitted 
to  these  strange  feasts :  only  the  ancients  are  worthy  enough  to 
take  part.  In  1894,  when  ascending  the  Upper  Ogowe  in 
Gabon,  we  encountered  several  bodies  floating  down  stream. 
They  had  been  caught  by  a  tree  branch  or  were  circling  about 
in  some  little  corner.  Frequently  in  the  trees  on  the  bank 
we  saw  men  (Fans)  holding  long  hook-like  sticks  in  their 
hands,  trying  to  gather  this  disgusting  prey. 

Where  the  custom  is  to  bury  the  dead,  the  body  is  placed 
in  a  sitting  posture  or  in  the  reclining  attitude  of  sleep  or  in 
the  position  of  an  infant  in  the  mother's  womb,  as  if  for  a 
second  birth. 

But  the  mourning  is  not  over.  From  the  time  of  the  death, 
the  women's  lamentations  have  ceased  only  at  stated  hours. 
They  will  continue  morning  and  evening  for  a  more  or  less 
prolonged  period,  generally  a  month. 

Mourning  requires  a  special  dress — white — the  color  of  the 
manes ;  then  the  position  of  the  things  in  the  house  is  changed, 
sometimes  they  even  abandon  the  hut  or  the  village,  offer 
sacrifices,  perform  lustrations,  wash  and  purify  themselves, 
and  shave  their  heads. 

Eight  days  after  the  burial,  the  family  again  assembles. 
Then  come  the  exercises  at  the  end  of  a  month.  For  the  anni- 
versary, there  has  been  time  to  gather  provisions ;  a  great  sacri- 
fice takes  place,  they  have  a  big  dinner,  drink  and  dance — for 
the  dance  is  a  part  of  a  great  many  ceremonies:  thus  the  soul 
at  length  is  laid  at  rest  and  the  mourning  is  ended. 

At    the    anniversary    exercises,    in    many    Bantu    districts, 


102  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

especially  toward  the  western  coast,  the  head  of  the  deceased 
is  cut  off,  cleaned,  painted  red,  and  enclosed  in  a  box  made 
of  bark  which  is  then  set  in  a  little  niche  of  the  hut,  where  it  is 
surmounted  by  a  wooden  statuette. 

At  times  the  statuette  is  made  of  clay  and  in  it  they  place 
relics  of  the  deceased,  bones,  eye-lashes,  hair,  finger-nails,  and 
such  like.  Sometimes  the  skull  is  placed  in  a  cave,  in  the 
trunk  of  a  tree,  or  in  a  sacred  grove.  Or  they  may  be  satisfied 
to  build  a  miniature  hut  where  the  disembodied  shade  will  come 
to  rest. 

But  however  diverse  may  be  the  ceremonies  of  mourning  and 
the  funeral  exercises,  the  purpose  is  always  the  same:  to 
assure  rest  to  the  departed  spirit,  to  fulfill  one's  duties  towards 
ysJ^^,  particularly  to  perform  the  rites  that  are  due  it  and,  if 
there  be  need,  to  avenge  it;  to  prevent  it  from  coming  back 
by  tracking  it,  by  gratifying  it  with  sacrifices,  by  scaring  it 
with  shouts,  enchantments,  and  even  insults;  and  lastly  to 
purify  one's  self  from  the  influences  that  might  have  been 
contracted  on  this  occasion. 

Throughout  this  ceremonial  we  have  clearly  in  evidence  the 
idea  of  man's  survival  after  death. 

II.    The  Manes  ^^--^^      v ^^--— 

Where  do  the  disembodied  souls  go  and  what  do  they  become  ? 
This  is  a  very  perplexing  question,  especially  if  you  want  a 
theory  that  will  apply  equally  well  to  all  the  Bantu  tribes. 
I^either  the  data  that  the  ordinary  natives  can  furnish  nor  the 
numerous  details  that  we  find  in  the  reports  and  studies  of  trav- 
elers allow  us  to  form  what  might  be  called  a  complete  and 
rational  theory  of  the  survival  of  souls.  To  unravel  this 
capital  question  a  little  and  to  avoid  misunderstanding,  contra- 
diction, and  incoherence,  into  which  both  Blacks  and  Whites 
ordinarily  fall,  we  must  return  to  the  distinctions  already 
indicated  in  the  concept  of  the  soul.  Let  us  take  as  an  example 
a  people  that  has  been  well  studied,  a  people  whose  ancient 
traditions  seem  to  have  been  sufficiently  well  preserved:  the 
Vili  people  of  Loango. 


BELIEF  103 

1.  We  will  find  at  first  that  this  something  whose  existence 
the  Blacks  have  noticed  as  associated  with  corporeal  matter  and 
as  constituting  the  human  being,  has  a  perishable  part  and  a 
permanent  part.  The  former  is  that  human  shade,  the  forma 
corporis,  with  that  living  breath  and  vital  principle  of  which 
there  has  already  been  question.  It  is  attached  to  the  body 
and  follows  it  in  its  mortal  ruin.  This  is  why  sometimes  cer- 
tain statements  of  the  natives  have  led  to  the  supposition  that 
they  believe  nothing  of  us  remains  after  death  has  reduced  our 
body  to  dust.  In  fact,  these  miserable  remains  "which  have 
no  name  in  any  language/'  have  neither  shadow  nor  breath 
nor  movement.  And  in  so  far  as  that  is  concerned,  we  shall 
die  quite  completely. 

2.  But  it  is  not  this  essential  part  of  the  soul  (speaking 
according  to  Bantu  philosophy)  that  constitutes,  properly 
speaking,  our  individual  and  distinctive  personality :  this  latter 
is  formed  by  what  is  called,  especially  in  the  languages  of 
eastern  Africa,  m-zimu,  n^sim^u,  n-simOj  mu-zimu,  umud-zimu, 
mo-dimOj,  mo-limo  ^^  which  we  can  translate  by  manes. 

This  is  what  really  survives  the  dissolution  of  the  body  and 
forms,  under  the  appellation  of  ancestor-worship  or  manism, 
the  chief  object  of  the  Bantu's  religion  and,  we  may  likewise 
say,  that  of  nearly  all  ancient  peoples.  These  manes  have  a 
right  to  our  respect,  homage,  offerings,  and  sacrifices.  Since 
they  have  lost  their  mortal  bodies,  we  ought  also  to  prepare 
a  dwelling-place  for  them  to  replace  their  former  bodies.  In 
western  Africa  it  is  the  skull  of  the  deceased  that  is  carefully 
preserved  in  the  family  hut  or  in  a  sort  of  niche  in  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  common  house  of  the  village  or  in  a  veritable 
little  chapel  that  certain  tribes  erect  beside  their  huts.  For- 
merly the  manes  were  thought  to  dwell  under  the  floor  or  near 
the  fireplace. 

As  we  advance  toward  the  east,  we  find  minute  structures 
either  at  the  entrance  to  the  village  or  in  the  village  itself  or  at 
the  crossroads :  these  are  the  huts  of  the  mzimu. 

Or  again,  these  manes  are  supposed  to  remain  near  their 
tombs,  in  the  cemeteries,  or  at  the  very  spot  where  the  man 

"  From  the  root  ima,  "to  be  alive." 


104  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

fell.  Hence  along  the  caravan  routes  we  often  see  heaps 
of  stones,  twigs,  or  even  leaves  that  are  piled  np  in  the  form 
of  a  mound  (tumulus)  to  which  each  passer-hy  adds  something, 
a  pebble,  a  little  twig,  or  a  handful  of  grass. 

But  these  disembodied  souls  long  to  enter  again  into  objects 
to  which  they  were  attached,  living  animals  and  even  human 
creatures,  notably  into  their  relatives'  children. 

One  day,  Kingaru,  a  village  chief  on  the  eastern  coast,  whom 
our  missionaries  had  visited,  came  to  Zanzibar  and  urged  us 
to  settle  with  him  at  Mandera.  One  of  us  had  given  him  a 
large  medal,  and  Father  Sacleux  asked  him  to  wear  it.  ^'This 
present,"  he  replied,  "is  very  precious  to  me.  I  will  wear  it  i 
all  my  life,  and  at  my  death  I  wiU  leave  it  to  my  son ;  for  my  | 
TTizimu  will  enter  it  and  rest  there." 

At  Mombasa,  the  founder  of  the  Christian  colony,  known 
by  the  name  of  SheJie  wa  Mvita/^^  often  appeared,  the  natives 
said,  under  the  form  of  a  serpent,  especially  at  New  Year's,  | 
during  the  dances  performed  near  his  tomb.  Among  the  Wa- 
rundi,  when  the  king  dies,  his  body,  wrapped  in  a  black  ox- 
hide, is  mummified  by  drying  it  near  a  big  fire,  then  exposed 
in  the  open  air  on  a  platform,  where  it  continues  to  receive 
funeral  honors  until  the  catafalque  crumbles  of  its  own  accord. 
The  remains  are  wrapped  in  matting  and  buried  on  the  spot.  1 
Then,  the  first  worm  that  comes  from  the  putrefying  body 
receives  a  hearty  welcome  and  is  fed  on  cow's  milk.  Soon,  they 
s^y,  this  worm  changes  into  a  python  or  a  leopard  or  a  lion 
or  some  other  beast.  It  is  therein  the  spirit  of  the  deceased 
resides:  this  animal  is  thenceforth  sacred;  they  feed  it  and 
offer  sacrifice  to  it.^^ 

The  people  of  Taita  ^^  have,  on  one  of  their  mountains,  a  lake 
around  which  a  number  of  little  huts  are  built  where  their 
wa-rumu  (manes)  come  and  rest.  All  the  ducks  and  other  birds 
as  well  as  the  fish  of  this  lake  are  equally  sacred. 

We  have  already  observed  that  the  Wa-nika  have  a  gTcat 
veneration  for  the  hyena.      Their  neighbors,   the  Wa-kamba, 

^"The  ancestor  of  Mvita"    (Swahili  name  of  Mombasa). 

*^  Rev.  Van  der  Burgt,  loc.  cit. 

"Eastern  Africa,  between  Mombasa  and  the  Kilimanjaro. 


BELIEF  105 

and  higher  up  the  Wa-kikiijii,  in  imitation  of  the  Massai, 
eat  no  birds,  because  all  these  tribes  leave  the  bodies  of  their 
dead  on  the  surface  of  the  soil  under  some  branches;  the 
spirit  of  the  dead  passes  into  birds,  hyenas,  and  jackals  that 
devour  the  body  in  which  it  dwelt. 

Yet,  whatever  be  the  dwelling-place  of  the  manes,  they  are 
in  a  world  not  ours,  that  has  not  our  sun,  that  is  dark  and  cold. 
Each  takes  with  him  his  passions,  affections,  preferences, 
hatreds,  and  grudges.  The  people  of  no  account,  children, 
slaves,  and  miserable  wretches,  remain  what  they  were,  and 
their  mi-zimu  soon  fall  into  a  sort  of  torpor  from  which  they 
never  emerge.  The  same  is  not  true  of  the  chiefs,  the  "seers," 
those  who  were  distinguished  by  their  supernatural  powers. 
These  had  within  them  an  intensity  of  life  that  permits  them 
to  remain  active  and  powerful  even  when  they  are  discarnated. 
They  are  interested  in  those  whom  they  knew,  share  their 
afflictions,  take  part  in  their  feasts,  in  a  word,  live  the  family 
and  tribal  life.  Besides,  they  have  powers  superior  to  man, 
over  the  winds,  the  rain,  the  crops,  the  game ;  they  can  appear 
to  the  living;  they  like  to  pick  out  certain  favorite  places,  as 
groves,  hills,  caves,  or  tombs,  where  their  activity  will  be  more 
efficaciously  manifested  and  where  they  will  receive  the  homage 
of  mortals  with  greater  pleasure;  they  also  take  possession  of 
men,  particularly  when  they  have  been  neglected,  and  they 
quit  them  only  after  long  ceremonies  and  large  offerings. 

3.  Certain  populations  catch  a  glimpse  of  another  life  ffr 
the  shades  of  their  dead,  a  higher  life  where,  though  not 
completely  separated  from  human  interests,  they  are  not 
entirely  absorbed  therein.  The  Fans,  for  instance,  think  that, 
although  there  is  in  man  an  obscure  principle  that  is  lost  in 
the  nighty  there  is  also  a  luminous  principle  that  shines  in 
the  crystal  of  the  eye  and  goes  to  join  the  light  of  the  sun. 
That  invisible  world  where  souls  go  that  are  in  condition  to 
be  happy  and  powerful,  is,  in  the  thought  of  these  peoples,  the 
world  of  Ood.  Listen  to  the  words  of  an  authoritative  observer 
speaking  of  the  beliefs  of  the  N'yandjya  (or  ISTyassa)  : 

"The  mzimu  remains  alive  when  the  man  dies;  the  soul 
flies,  flies ;  it  goes  there  where  the  souls  of  all  men  who  are  dead 


106  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

have  gone;  they  fly  like  the  wind;  they  live  in  some  way  like 
there  where  God  lives ;  they  know  all ;  if  someone  complains  to 
the  mzimUj  the  mzinvu  hears  him;  the  mzimu  comes  in  m.y 
dream ;  if  someone  falls  into  danger,  he  will  make  him  return ; 
if  someone  is  possessed  by  the  mzimu,  it  is  to  make  him  tell 
everyone  to  listen  to  him." 

4.  But  there  is  also  another  side  to  this  matter.  As  the 
Latins  had  the  manes  whom  they  honored  and  from  whom 
they  expected  favor,  they  also  had  the  larves  and  the  lemures, 
ghosts,  phantoms,  and  specters  who  were  capable  only  of  doing 
evil.  It  is  the  same  with  our  Blacks.  In  their  mind,  these 
specters  are  apparently  disembodied  souls  that  ^^have  turned 
bad" :  those  of  sorcerers,  criminals,  all  those  who  do  not  deserve 
the  place,  honors,  and  privileges  reserved  for  the  manes.  The 
appearance  of  these  specters,  which  everywhere  arouses  great 
fear,  signifies,  in  the  eyes  of  him  who  sees  them,  the  proximate 
death  of  himself  or  of  someone  belonging  to  him.  By  clever 
enchantments,  the  sorcerers  are  supposed  to  summon  these 
specters  to  their  service,  make  them  take  the  form  of  a  leopard, 
an  alligator,  a  hippopotamus,  and  thus  carry  out  their  wicked 
designs  by  killing  a  great  many  persons.  In  short,  nothing 
good  can  be  expected  from  these  damned  souls.  Especially  is 
it  to  them  that  magic  makes  appeal. 

Let  us  take  the  I^ika  people  at  the  opposite  side  of  Loango 
in  eastern  Africa.  In  a  painstaking  work,  Krapf  and  Eebmann 
h^ve  brought  together,  around  the  word  homa  (spirit  of  the 
dead,  manes)  some  native  texts  that  will  enlighten  us  as  to 
its  meaning.-^ 

"There  are  spirits  of  the  left  side  and  of  the  right." 

"The  spirits  of  his  ancestors  have  entered  into  him  that  he 
may  be  a  sorcerer  (seer)." 

"The  spirit  produces  dreams :  what  he  sees,  will  happen.  If 
such  a  one  dreams  that  some  person  dies,  he  will  die  indeed." 

"The  spirit  announces  what  is  going  to  happen ;  if  it  is  war, 
if  it  is  famine,  he  makes  it  known  to  you." 

"A  storm  arose  to-day :  it  passed  by  with  a  troop.    Ah,  well, 

^'Dr.  L.  Krapf  and  Rebmann,  Nika-English  Diet.,  art.  "Koma." 


BELIEF  107 

they  are  the  ones  from  the  home  of  Him-on-high,  they  are 
taking  a  walk  at  home." 

'The  storm  passed  with  the  spirit;  night  visits  thefarth." 

"Is  he  possessed  by  some  spirit?  He  is  possessed  by  his 
grandfather's  spirit." 

"Do  not  moan  so  (to  a  child),  you  will  make  the  spirits 
come ;  the  spirit  will  come  to  torment  him  because  of  his  father's 
anger." 

"When  people  eat  rice,  they  must  put  aside  a  little  ball  of 
it  for  the  spirit ;  thus  he  receives  his  part  on  the  road." 

"What  is  that  ?    It  is  the  spirit's  thing." 

These  extracts,  though  merely  a  summary,  enable  us  to  make 
it  evident  that  our  Blacks  firmly  believe  in  the  survival  of 
souls.     But  must  this  survival  be  considered  eternal  ? 

This  new  and  difficult  question  is  too  fine  and  theoretical  to 
become  a  subject  of  speculation  with  men  essentially  practical. 
Yet,  in  general,  it  seems  that  the  degree  of  survival  after  death  I; 
is  measured  by  the  force  of  life  contained  in  the  soul  of  things  f 
and  living  beings.     Thus  the  soul  of  material  objects,  plants,     i 
and  animals,  essentially  depends  on  their  elements  and  dis-     !  j 
appears  with  them. 2"*     It  is  almost  the  same  with  the  soul  of 
little   infants  who   do  not  know  enough  to   answer  to   their 
name;  older  children,  slaves,  people  of  no  account,  have  souls 
that  do  not  persist  very  long  after  them.    The  manes  of  ordinary 
free  men  eventually  fall  into  a  certain  torpor  from  which  they 
never  awake.     But  there  are  others,  both  good  and  bad,  souls 
of  great  chiefs  and  famous  sorcerers,  whose  activity  seems  to 
continue  indefinitely;  for  you  hear  certain  spirits  of  families 
and  tribes  mentioned  as  still  powerful  that  once  occupied  such 
and  such  a  place  but  have  long  since  disappeared. 

Philosophical  and  theological  notions  of  immortality  and 
reward,  such  as  we  understand  them,  seem  beyond  the  capacity 
of  intellects  so  little  suited  to  speculation.  The  natives  scarcely 
take  note  of  these  questions  and  pause  very  little  over  them. 

"*  Exception  must  be  made  in  the  case  of  certain  animals  that  are  con- 
sidered superior :  thus  on  the  island  of  Pemba  ( near  Zanzibar )  the  natives 
honor  the  mzimu  of  the  cat. 


108  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

In  fact,  their  minds  do  not  follow  the  soul  into  the  beyond 
of  the  invisible  world  except  in  so  far  as  its  activity  interests 
them  in  Ij^eir  own  persons  or  in  the  persons  of  those  belonging 
to  them.  The  rest  is  not  their  affair.  Although  they  believe 
firmly  in  the  survival  of  souls,  as  firmly  as  if  they  had  seen 
them  with  their  own  eyes,  what  do  they  know  of  their  condition 
in  the  mysterious  world  where  they  have  gone  ?  The  Fans  of 
Gabon  echo  the  thought  of  all  their  Bantu  brethren,  when  they 
repeat  in  a  sort  of  powerless  anguish :  "Death  is  like  the  moon ; 
who  has  seen  its  other  side?"  /^i^^-i''<\ 

III.     Spirits 

Among  these  disembodied  souls  that  keep,  along  with  their 
passions,  their  power  for  good  and  evil,  some  become  gradually 
freed  from  human  weaknesses  and  imperfections  until  they 
take  their  place  in  the  ranks  of  true  spirits  and  are  no  longer 
disting-uished  from  them;  for  there  are  some  spirits  that  seem 
to  have  nothing  in  common  with  man,  either  by  their  origin 
or  their  nature. 

Such  seems  to  be  the  case  of  the  Ombwiri  (pi.  Awiri)  in 
Gabon. 

"As  it  is  used  in  the  plural  as  well  as  in  the  singular  form," 
says  J.  L.  Wilson,  "it  no  doubt  represents  a  class  or  family  of 
spirits.  It  is  regarded  as  a  tutelary  or  guardian  spirit.  Almost 
every  man  has  his  ombwiri,  for  which  he  provides  a  small  house 
near  his  own.  All  the  harm  that  he  has  escaped  in  this  world, 
and  all  the  good  that  he  has  secured,  are  ascribed  to  the  kindly 
offices  of  this  guardian  spirit.  Ombwiri  is  also  regarded  as  the 
author  of  everything  in  the  world  which  is  marvelous  or  mys- 
terious. Any  remarkable  feature  in  the  physical  aspect  of  the 
country,  any  notable  phenomenon  in  the  heavens,  or  extraor- 
dinary events  in  the  affairs  of  men  are  ascribed  to  ombwiri. 
His  favorite  places  of  abode  are  the  summits  of  high  mountains, 
deep  caverns,  large  rocks,  and  the  base  of  very  large  forest 
trees.  And  while  the  people  attach  no  malignity  to  his  char- 
acter, they  carefully  guard  against  all  unnecessary  familiarity 
in  their  intercourse  with  him,  and  never  pass  a  place  where  he 
is  supposed  to  dwell  except  in  silence.     He  is  the  only  one  of 


BELIEF  109 

all  the  spirits  recognized  by  tlie  people  that  has  no  priesthood, 
his  intercourse  with  man  being  direct  and  immediate."  ^^ 

''Omhwiri  is  fine  and  admirable  in  aspect,  but  is  vefy  rarely 
seen;  it  is  white,  like  a  white  person."  Dr.  Nassau  adds  that^ 
as  criminals'  souls  can  become  evil  spirits,  ^'souls  of  distin- 
guished chiefs  and  other  great  men  turn  to  awiri."  ^^  This 
confirms  what  we  have  already  said. 

This  idea  that  man  has  a  guardian  spirit  interested  in  him 
and  his  home  becomes  more  precise  in  certain  tribes.  Among 
the  U-rundi,  for  example,  the  foundation  for  the  popular  belief 
would  seem  to  be  that  the  human  soul  has  a  sort  of  patron  spirit 
associated  with  it  and,  as  it  were,  welded  to  it :  it  is  his  familiar 
'^demon."  This  solidarity  persists  after  death  and  thus  we 
understand  the  power  of  disembodied  souls  for  good  or  evil.^''' 

However  tutelary  these  spirits  may  be,  the  Blacks  do  not  trust 
themselves  completely  to  their  humor,  for  other  spirits — and 
they  seem  indefinitely  more  numerous — have  a  quite  well  de- 
termined evil  character. 

What  is  the  nature  of  these  beings? 

Here  the  native  language  again  comes  to  our  aid.  We  have 
stated  that,  to  designate  the  human  soul,  expressions  are  used, 
borrowed  from  words  signifying  to  live,  breathe,  etc.  This 
same  soul,  this  principle  of  life,  once  freed  by  death,  takes 
another  name  that  is,  however,  connected  with  a  root  of  the 
same  meaning:  wrzimu,  for  instance,  with  its  many  related 
forms,  is  evidently  connected  with  -zima,  meaning  alive,  which 
in  turn  is  related  to  the  root  -ima,  to  he  erect,  to  live. 

But  when  there  is  question  of  designating  other  spirits  that 
are,  by  their  nature,  strangers  to  us,  the  Bantus  seek  an  image 
in  the  exterior  world.  They  will  select,  for  instance,  this 
breeze  that  springs  up  in  the  silence,  passes  in  the  trees  whose 
leaves  it  moves,  touches  our  faces,  and  although  invisible,  has 
a  perceptible,  mysterious,  and  disturbing  effect  on  the  things 

^^J.  L.  Wilson,  quoted  by  Nassau,  Fetichism  in  West  Africa,  p.  67. 

^/6icZ.,  p.  68. 

^  Eev.  Van  der  Burgt.,  op.  cit.,  art.  "Manes." 


110  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

of  visible  nature.  The  same  word  Pepo,^^  Peho,  Om-pepo, 
Om-hepo,  literally  meaning  wind,  figuratively  signifies  spirit. 
But  let  us  not  be  misunderstood :  tbe  one  is  not  the  other,  for 
whereas  the  word  Pepo,  wind,  takes  the  prefix  of  inert  things, 
the  word  Pepo,  spirit,  takes  that  of  living  beings. 

The  evil  spirit,  of  which  we  are  now  treating,  seems  not 
to  be  everywhere  designated  by  a  term  exclusively  its  own, 
like  that  of  pepo,  opposed  to  mrzimu  (manes),  that  we  have  just 
cited.  In  Tchuana,  for  instance,  the  plural  word  ha-dimo 
(evil  spirits)  comes  from  the  same  root  as  m-zimu;  but  then 
we  have  another  expression  to  designate  the  manes.  Likewise 
in  Eundi  the  words  imi-tima  mi-hi  (wicked  spirits)  and 
mu-dzimu  (manes)  come  from  the  same  root  but  form  two 
words  of  very  different  meanings. ^^ 

Many  of  these  spirits  have  a  specific  name  by  which  they 
are  known.  Each  one  also  has  his  character,  his  manner  of 
being,  his  powers,  functions,  and  exigencies,  and  his  ordinary 
sorcerers.  Note  this  curious  fact:  throughout  Bantu  Africa 
several  of  these  demons — for  we  are  here  in  the  depths  of 
demonology — are  designated  by  the  names  of  neighboring 
tribes  and  are  supposed  to  appear  under  the  form  of  animals, 
particularly  when  they  are  evoked  in  the  secret  societies  conse- 
crated to  them.^^  According  to  Eev.  W.  E.  Taylor,  such  are 
the  following  in  Giryama  (eastern  coast) : 

Nyama  Mharawa,  literally,  the  beast  of  Brawa  (Somaliland). 
Nyama  Mugala,  "         "       "     of  the  Gallas. 

Nyama  Mkajnba,  "         "       "     of  the  Wa-kamba. 

Nyama  Mtaita,  "         "       "     of  the  Wa-taita. 

Nyama  MJcwavi,  "         "       "     of  the  Wa-kwavi. 

There  are  others  which  appear  in  human  shape,  sometimes 
deformed  and  bizarre. 

"A  jinn  or  demon  called  Katsumbakazi,"  says  Taylor,  "is 

'^Pepo  in  Swahili  (Zanzibar)  and  in  a  great  many  languages;  Peho 
(Nika,  Nyamwezi,  etc.)  ;  Om-pepo  (Nyaneka,  iu  Angola)  ;  Om-hepo 
(Herero). 

"Father  Sacleux  (MS.  notes). 

•"W.  E.  Taylor,  English-Giryama  Vocabulary. 


BELIEF  111 

said  to  be  seen  occasionally.  It  is  malignant  and,  as  it  is  of  no 
great  stature,  when  it  meets  anyone,  is  jealous  lest  it  should  be 
despised  for  its  insignificant  size.  It  accordingly  asks,  Where 
did  you  first  catch  sight  of  me  V  If  the  person  is  so  unlucky 
as  to  answer,  ^Just  here !'  he  is  sure  to  die  shortly ;  if  he  is 
aware  of  the  danger,  and  says,  'Oh,  over  yonder!'  he  will  be 
left  unharmed,  and  it  may  be  that  some  good  will  happen  to 
him.''  31 

In  Gabon  at  the  other  side  of  the  continent,  Dr.  E.  H. 
N'assau  speaks  of  the  Sirnkinda  (sing.  Nkinda)  as  never  having 
had  a  corporeal  existence.  Nearly  all  are  ill  disposed.  They 
come  into  the  villages,  attracted  by  curiosity  or  desirous  of 
warming  themselves  near  the  kitchen  fires.  At  times  they 
are  mysterious  messengers,  bringing  news  from  distant  coun- 
tries, announcing  an  epidemic,  the  arrival  of  a  ship  on  the 
coast,  or  the  passing  of  a  white  man.^^  I  must  say  that  many 
a  time  on  my  arrival  at  a  village  I  have  heard  one  or  other 
of  the  sorcerers  afiirm  that  he  knew  of  my  visit  in  advance,  and 
he  would  tell  me  the  places  where  I  had  slept  the  preceding 
nights,  what  I  had  eaten,  what  I  had  done. 

These  sorts  of  spirits  are  fond  of  busying  themselves  with 
mortals,  often  going  so  far  as  to  take  possession  of  their 
bodies.  Still  another  class  of  demons  more  thoroughly 
wicked,  called  My-odi  in  Benga,  show  their  activity  by 
violent  possessions. 

Others  are  rather  capricious,  prankish,  mischievous,  who 
like  to  make  fun  of  men  and  play  tricks  on  them;  but  they 
can  be  disarmed  by  employing  the  proper  means. 

It  is  with  these  different  evil  spirits,  both  human  and  extra- 
human,  that  the  sorcerers  of  black  magic  have  relations.  We 
shall  return  to  them.  Although  evil  is  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
diffused  power  that  can  be  controlled  to  a  certain  extent,  yet 
there  does  not  seem  to  be,  in  the  mind  of  the  Blacks,  a  supreme 
power  of  evil  at  strife  with  the  supreme  power  of  good.  Such 
a  systematic  dualism  that  some  have  thought  to  find  in  Africa, 

"Taylor,  op.  oit.,  p.  81,  art.  "Religion." 
"Nassau,  op.  cit.,  p.  69. 


112  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

does  not  exist  there.  It  is  a  product  of  preconceived  ideas  that 
can  not  stand  the  simple  and  sincere  observation  of  facts.  The 
prince  of  evil  or  the  chief  of  hell  is  lacking  in  the  vocabulary 
of  the  Bantus  and  of  the  Africans  in  general:  these  mention 
only  particular  names  whose  owners  act  without  any  hierarchical 
arrangement.  Wherever  a  special  term  does  appear,  as  Shetani 
or  Satana,  it  is  foreign,  of  recent  introduction  and  due  to 
Mussulman  or  Christian  infiltration. 

At  most,  we  might  assimilate  the  notion  of  a  great  chief  of 
the  spirits  to  that  other  idea,  known  in  certain  places,  of  a 
spirit-master  of  the  earth,  the  guardian  of  hidden  treasures, 
presiding  over  terrestrial  phenomena,  and  corresponding  to 
the  Great  Spirit,  master  of  the  heavens. 

But  such  generalizations  do  not  enter  into  the  mentality 
of  the  Blacks.  Just  as  they  have  distinct  names  to  designate 
the  same  being  at  different  stages  of  its  growth  or  in  its 
different  states,  just  as  they  often  lack  a  generic  noun  to 
indicate  a  class  as,  for  instance,  the  species  "monkey,"  so  also 
they  propose  a  different  spirit  name  for  each  kind  of  influence 
that  they  attribute  to  the  same  spirit  sources. 

Thus  we  have  in  Congo  and  in  a  great  part  of  Africa  those 
kinds  of  genii  with  their  names  and  attributes,  their  ordinary 
following,  and  their  ceremonies.  Some  preside  over  the  ele- 
ments, some  over  rivers,  lakes,  forests,  crops,  journeys,  law- 
suits, diseases,  in  fact,  over  everything.  These  spirits,  calling 
to  mind  the  genii  and  dii  of  the  Latins,  have  their  images  and 
figures  and  special  symbols;  that  is  what,  properly  speaking, 
constitutes  fetichism.  We  will  speak  of  it  in  connection  with 
the  question  of  worship. 

Before  going  further  but  without  going  into  a  deep  discussion, 
we  may  remark  how  much  these  simple,  naive,  primitive,  and 
popular  notions,  which  are  also  reasonable  to  a  certain  extent, 
differ  from  the  complicated,  learned,  abstract,  systematic,  and 
often  ridiculous  theories  that  have  been  advanced  as  the  religion 
of  our  savage  peoples:  naturism,  totemism,  manism,  animism, 
fetichism,  etc. 

No  doubt,  we  can  use  any  one  of  these  expressions  to  des- 


BELIEF  113 

ignate  their  beliefs  and  their  form  of  worship;  the  important 
thing  is  to  know  what  one  intends  to  include  therein. 

So  far  as  the  Bantus  are  concerned,  we  have  seen  how  to 
explain  many  strange  facts  gathered  here  and  there  by  ethnol- 
ogists, and  confused  and  arbitrarily  grouped  by  them  to  support 
preconceived  systems. 

We  see  that  the  personification  of  the  elements,  stars,  stones, 
trees,  or  animals,  is  a  pure  misunderstanding,  too  often  made 
and  accepted,  but  not  by  our  Blacks. 

We  see  that  the  fear  of  ghosts  which,  according  to  Herbert 
Spencer,  must  have  been  the  initial  basis  of  the  fear  of  God, 
forms  only  a  simple  element  in  the  totality  of  the  native  ideas ; 
we  see  that  it  depends  entirely  on  the  belief  in  the  existence 
and  survival  of  the  human  soul,  and  that  it  is  impossible  to 
find  therein  any  proof  that  this  fear  has  been  or  is  the  initial 
reason  of  all  religion. 

We  see  likewise  that  the  "deification"  of  the  dead,  although 
it  existed  in  Greek  and  Latin  polytheism,  is  unknown  among 
our  primitives. 

Moreover,  to  give  all  these  theories  a  serious  foundation,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  show  that  the  beliefs  set  forth  relative 
to  the  manes  and  spirits,  hold  the  field  alone  and  do  not  co- 
exist aftiong  the  savages  along  with  other  points  of  view.  If, 
in  fact,  all  their  present  notions  stopped  there,  it  would  still 
not  be  proved  that  they  never  had  any  others  and  that  hence 
these  are  their  initial  notions.  There  would  simply  be  unde- 
niable probability  that  this  was  the  case. 

Let  us  continue  our  examination. 

lY.    God 

"Everything  is  full  of  gods."  The  developments  we  have 
outlined  relative  to  the  souls  of  things  and  animate  beings,  to 
the  manes,  spirits,  and  the  genii,  show  that  this  saying  of  the 
Greeks  can  also  be  applied  to  the  black  world.  Everything  is 
full  of  gods ;  but  where  is  God  himself  ? 

God?  In  the  black  world  he  is  nowhere  to  be  found,  we 
are  often  told  by  the  most  opposite  parties. 


114  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

When  you  have  lived  with  our  primitives  a  long  time,  when 
you  have  come  to  be  accepted  as  one  of  them,  entering  into 
their  life  and  mentality,  and  acquainted  with  their  language, 
practices,  and  beliefs,  you  reach  the  conclusion  that,  behind 
what  is  called  their  naturism,  animism,  or  fetichism,  every- 
where there  rises  up,  real  and  living,  though  often  more  or  less 
veiled,  the  notion  of  a  higher  God,  above  men,  manes,  spirits, 
and  all  the  forces  of  nature.  Other  beliefs  are  variable  like 
the  ceremonies  attached  to  them;  but  this  one  is  universal  and 
fundamental. 

Everywhere  among  the  IN'egrillos  and  Bantus,  as  well  as 
throughout  Africa,  God  has  a  name.  Herein  we  find  the  par- 
ticularizing spirit  of  the  race.  As  each  family  has  its  father 
and  each  clan  has  its  ancestor,  so  each  tribe  or  group  of 
tribes  of  the  same  origin  wishes  to  have  its  God.  How  do  they 
do  it  ?  They  have  given  a  special  name  to  the  supreme  Being, 
as  if  to  localize  him  with  them :  hence  the  different  names  under 
which  God  is  known  on  the  black  continent.)  This  remark  has 
a  striking  application  at  the  l^iger  delta,  where  each  village, 
so  to  speak,  designates  God  by  a  different  name.^^    But  when 

*vS  y^^  question  the  natives,  you  very  quickly  perceive  that  in 
>^  their  minds  these  different  appellations  refer  to  the  same  sov- 

.  t''  ereign  Being:  the  M-ungu  of  the  Swahilis  is  the  same  as  the 
Nkulu-Nkulu  of  the  Zulus,  the  Nagi  of  the  Massai,  the  Waha 

X  of  the  Gallas,  the  Allah  of  the  Mussulmans.  The  Blacks  are 
not  polytheists.  In  similar  manner  they  multiply  the  names 
of  rivers :  each  group  living  near  a  river  gives  a  different  name 
to  the  same  stream,  as  if  each  one  wished,  by  a  name  in  its 
own  language,  to  associate  it  with  itself  and,  so  to  speak,  to 
naturalize  it. 

What  name  do  the  Bantus  give  to  God  ?  The  study  of  this 
question,  if  it  can  be  settled,  will  not  fail  to  be  interesting  and 
singularly  helpful  in  enlightening  us. 

We  have  already  seen  that  our  Blacks,  in  their  profoundly 
logical  language  have  had  recourse  to  ideas  and  words  relating 

*^A.  G.  Leonard,  The  Lower  Niger  and  Its  Tribes. 


BELIEF  115 

to  the  special  nature  of  man,  as  life,  breathing,  heart,  ttin  and 
mobile  shade,  to  designate  the  incarnate  soul  and  the  disem- 
bodied soul. 

To  name  the  spirits  of  an  extra-human  nature,  they  have 
employed  an  element  that  is  outside  of  us :  the  breeze,  the  wind, 
the  moving  air. 

But  to  give  God  a  name,  they  have  made  use  of  a  third 
method.  Instead  of  trying  to  represent  the  nature  of  this 
unrepresentable  Being,  they  have  designated  him  by  an  epithet, 
an  expression  of  quality  and  an  attribute  which,  in  their  opin- 
ion, eminently  suits  him,  or  by  an  emblem  indicating  his 
dwelling-place,  his  greatness,  or  his  power. 

Father  Sacleux,  whom  I  have  already  quoted  more  than 
once,  has  sent  me  some  pertinent  notes  which,  in  the  present 
state  of  Bantu  philology,  he  alone  was  able  to  furnish,  and 
which  are  very  suggestive. 

1.  A  first  series  of  these  expressions  of  quality  intended  to 
signify  God,  turns  about  the  word  -amba  (to  say,  do,  arrange, 
fashion).  Vestiges  of  it  are  to  be  found  everywhere;  the 
most  important  derivative  and  the  one  best  preserved  in  the 
ensemble  in  the  linguistic  family,  is  the  word  m-ambo  (words, 
deeds,  actions).  From  this  verb  -amba,  prefixed  by  the  element 
Nya-  or  Nyi-  (the  having,  he  who),  the  Bantus  from  Kamerun 
to  the  Herero  country,  with  lines  penetrating  into  the  center 
of  the  continent,  have  derived  these  expressions,  easy  to  follow 
in  their  derivations: 

Ny-ambe  (Luyi  or  Kotse,  upper  Zambezi). 
Any-ambye    (Mpongwe    of    Gabon    and    neighboring    lan- 
guages).^^ 

Nz-ambi  (Vili  of  Loango,  etc.). 
Nz-ame  (Fan  of  the  Gabon  forest). 

These  expressions  mean   ''he  who  speaks,  he  who  does,   the 
organizer,  the  creator." 

^*  It  has  been  said  that  in  this  word  the  initial  letter  indicates  the  plural. 
This  is  an  error:  A  is  not  here  a  prefix;  it  is  Any.  Moreover,  Anyamhye 
is  always  employed  in  the  singular:  a  plural  form  of  this  word  is  even 
impossible. 


116  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

The  same  notion  is  found  expressed  by  other  words,  such  as 
-umba,  -vanga,  -pangd,  -tunga,  -tonda,  -ilola,  -Mold,  all  having 
the  identical  signification  of  to  make  (for  example,  of  pottery), 
to  give  the  form,  to  fashion,  to  arrange.  Whence  the  following 
names  consecrated  to  the  Divinity : 

Mvrumha  (Swahili  and  neighboring  languages),  literally  "the 
fashioning." 

Mb-umha  (Vili,  of  Loango). 

Mh-umhi  (Shuna,  of  Mashonaland). 

Umh-umhi  (Tebele,  between  the  Limpopo  and  the  Zambezi). 

Mu-vangi  (Duma,  Upper  Ogowe,  Gabon). 

0-wangi  (Ndumu,  Upper  Ogowe). 

Tcirvanga  (Vili,  of  Loango). 

Ka-runga  (Herero,  south  of  the  Kunene). 

Ka-lunga  (Kwanyama  and  JSTgangela,  of  Angola). 

Ka-tonda  (Ganda,  north-west  of  the  Victoria  JSTyanza). 

2.  A  second  series  of  names,  employed  exxclusively  to  des- 
ignate God,  marks  his  power,  strength,  greatness,  ownership, 
supreme  mastership.  Several  of  these  are  from  the  root  -ezw 
(to  do,  to  be  able,  to  have  authority  and  power)  especially 
employed  in  the  central  region,  and  by  infiltration  into  the 
valley  of  the  Zambezi.  We  can  follow  this  root  in  the  follow- 
ing composites: 

Mwiny'ezi  (Swahili  and  allied  languages),  literally  "he  who 
has  power,"  "the  Powerful." 

L-eza  (Tabwa,  Bisa,  Bemba,  Tonga,  Luba,  etc.,  Zambezi 
valley). 

L-ezi  (E'yandjya,  Lake  l^yassa). 

E-edja  (Kanyoka,  Karanga). 

R-edza  (l^yungwe,  Zambezi). 

Ka-hedja  (Guha,  West  Tanganyika). 

Ma^weza  (Kanyoka). 

Here  are  others  of  the  same  meaning  but  with  different  roots : 

Ne-ngolo  and  Nkwa-ngolo  (Lower  Congo),  "the  Having 
power." 

Mpungu-ngolo  (Ibid.),  "God"  or  "Spirit-power." 
Nzamo-mpuo  (Tege  of  Leopoldville),  "Strong  God." 


BELIEF  117 

Nya^mpamvu-zentze   (Tete,  Upper  Zambezi),   "the  Having 

all  power." 

Nya-ma^Kore  (Nywangwe  of  Tete),  "the  One  from  on  high." 
Mu-hulo  Nzambi  (Lunda,  Angola),  "the  Great  God." 
Nkulu-Nkulu   (Zulu  and  neighboring  dialects),  "the  Great 

Great"  (the  Very  High). 

Murlofo  (Luba,  Upper  Kassai),  "the  Master,"  "the  Chief." 
Mw-ene  (Sagala,  East  African),  same  meaning. 

3.  A  third  series  of  names  will  perhaps  be  found  still  more 
interesting,  for  herein  the  language  seeks  to  translate  the  essen- 
tial nature  of  God ;  and  it  is  at  least  curious  to  meet  this  attempt 
of  poor  savages  to  express  the  "ineffable"  name  that  Biblical 
tradition  has  handed  down  to  us.  We  have  already  seen  that  in 
many  Bantu  tribes  the  human  soul  derives  its  name  from  the 
root  -ima,  which  means  to  live:  it  is  the  principle  of  life  with- 
in us.  But,  if  a  soul  lives  in  us  and  animates  us,  another  Soul 
animates  the  universe.  From  the  same  root  -ima  we  get  these 
words : 

M-tima,  n-tima,  m-rima^  umu-tima ,  .^wman  soul 
Mo-dimo,  mrlimu,  umu-dzimu,  mvr 

zimu,  m-zimu    Manes 

Me-Umo    (pi.)    Spirits  (inferior  gods) 

Mo-limo    (sing.)    GOD 

And  if  in  some  cases  a  confusion  might  arise  between  the 
use  of  Mo-limo  (God)  and  that  of  Mo-limo  (inferior  spirit), 
as  in  Tebele,  recourse  may  be  had  to  the  ordinary  proceeding: 
the  difference  of  the  connectives  and  the  difference  of  plural 
prefixes. 

4.  Let  us  mention  a  last  series  of  names.  They  designate 
God  by  his  supposed  dwelling-place,  or  his  likeness  or  identifi- 
cation with  the  light,  the  sky,  or  the  sun. 

It  is  proper,  first  of  all,  to  connect  with  this  series  the  wide- 
spread expression  M-ngu,  Mu-ngu,  Mu-ungu,  Mu-lungu,  etc., 
that  we  may  translate  by  "the  One  from  on  high,  the  One  of 
the  sky."  It  belongs  especially  to  the  tongues  of  eastern  Africa 
(about  forty)  and  extends  from  the  extreme  limit  of  the  Bantu 
languages   at  the   north    (Swahili,   Kamba,    Ganda,   etc.)    to 


118  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

the  south  of  the  Mozambique  on  one  side  and,  on  the  other,  to 
the  heart  of  the  continent,  with  echoes  to  the  west  in  Ovampo 
and  Angola. 

We  can  not  here  digress  into  purely  philological  details. 
Let  it  suffice  for  us  to  point  out  the  same  root  in  the  words 
U-wingu  (heaven)  and  Mh-ingu  (heavens)  :  Mu-ingu  or 
Mvrngu  (the  spirit  of  the  heaven).  We  may  add  that  this 
word  in  the  singular  admits  by  way  of  agreement  only  pro- 
nouns relating  to  living,  rational  persons.  The  plural,  on  the 
contrary,  which  regularly  should  be  Wa^ngu  or  Warlungu,  is 
Mirungu  or  Mi-lungu,  literally  ^^god  beings,"  or  "servants  of 
gods"  (without  reason  or  movement  of  their  own)  :  so  that 
the  language,  making  an  exception  in  this  case  for  the 
formation  of  the  plural,  isolates  the  word  Mungu  (God) 
in  a  rank  that  belongs  to  it  alone.  Is  not  the  fact  worthy 
of  mention  ? 

In  the  same  order  of  ideas,  God,  in  Swahili  and  other  neigh- 
boring languages,  is  also  called  Mu-anga,  literally  "the  One 
of  the  light"  or  "the  One  of  the  bright  heaven"  (from  Mu-, 
personal  prefix,  and  -anga,  "light  of  the  heaven"). 

The  sun  has  also  been  taken  as  an  emblem  of  the  Divinity 
in  some  Bantu  languages;  but,  by  curious  processes,  they 
have  always  carefully  marked  the  difference  between  the  orb 
of  day  and  the  great  living  Being  who  borrows  his  name  from 
it,  either  distinguishing  the  two  by  their  prefixes  or  marking 
their  quality  by  the  pronominal  inflections  which  they  give 
them  or  adding  to  the  word  "sun"  another  word  from  a  neigh- 
boring language  or  a  special  epithet  that  relates  only  to  God. 
This  is  evident  proof  that,  although  the  language  finds  itself 
embarrassed  to  express  what  it  wishes  to  say,  the  spirit  of  the 
primitive  has  not  intended  to  confuse  or  assimilate  either  the 
ideas  or  the  terms. 

Let  us  take  the  root  -ua,  -uwa,  -uha  (sun).  In  E'yambu 
(south-west  of  the  Victoria  N'yanza)  they  will  say: 

I-zuwa  (sun). 
Korzova  (God). 


BELIEF  119 

In  Sukuma  and  neigliboring  dialects  (soutli  of  the  !N"yanza)  : 

Li-uwa  (sun). 
Di-Tcuwe  (God). 

Or  else: 

E-humbi  (sun). 
Lu'hubi  (God). 

The  Tchagas,  who  inhabit  the  Kilimanjaro,  make  use  of 
the  word  Bioa  to  designate  the  sun  and  God.  But  in  a  phrase 
they  take  care  to  distinguish  the  two  by  the  connective :  that  of 
inanimate  beings  for  the  sun,  that  of  animate,  living,  rational 
beings  for  God.  "The  sun  goes  away" :  Rua  lirenda;  "God  goes 
away":  Rua  i-enda.  And  the  better  to  avoid  confusion,  they 
have  the  habit  of  adding  to  the  word  Rucu  the  expression  Mu- 
rungii,  which  can  be  applied  only  to  the  Divinity.  In  an 
identical  manner  the  Blacks  of  Kikuyu  and  of  Kamba  (east 
African),  while  preserving  their  own  terms  i-wa  and  li-wa  for 
"sun,"  have  borrowed  from  the  Massai,  their  great  neighbors, 
the  word  Ngai,  which  applies  to  the  sky,  the  sun,  infinite  space, 
and  God. 

These  testimonies,  which  might  easily  be  extended  to  all 
the  Bantu  langTiages  and,  we  may  add,  to  the  African 
languages  universally,  should  be  enough  to  show  the  strange 
confusion  made  formerly  in  trying  to  represent  these  natives 
as  having  no  religious  notions.  It  was  the  thesis  of  Sir  John 
Lubbock  as  well  as  of  all  those  who  followed  him;  a  thesis 
that  has  since  been  adopted  by  those  who  see  in  Black  religion 
only  a  childish  animism  or  a  crude  fetichism,  without  any  idea 
of  God,  of  his  nature,  or  of  his  attributes. 

All  that  Keville  ^^  can  grant  us  is  that  "of  all  non-civilized 
peoples,  the  Blacks  of  Africa  most  easily  familiarize  them- 
selves with  the  idea  of  God  ruling  the  entire  universe"  and 
that  "we  never  greatly  surprise  the  negro  when  we  speak  to 
him  of  one,  sole,  truly  existing  God."  He  goes  so  far  as  to 
find  "some  traces  of  a  worship  positively  rendered  to  a  supreme 

^  Reville,  Les  religions  des  peuples  non  civilises,  I,  p.  54. 


120  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

God.  He  is  called  Woka  or  Waka  among  the  Gallas  and  their 
neighbors,  the  Imomattas  (  ?),  to  the  east  of  the  Sudan."  And 
he  adds :  ''It  is  the  sky  that  is  here  meant.''  ^® 

The  same  confusion  is  to  be  observed  among  the  best  inten- 
tioned  scholars.  In  his  careful  study  on  the  Religion  of  non- 
civilized  peoples^  Abbe  Bros,  relying  on  the  word  of  Reville, 
Tylor,  Frazer,  and  others,  points  out  as  matter  of  worship 
among  these  populations,  only  various  "objects,"  "objects  that 
the  savage  believes  to  be  animated"  and  which  "are  regarded 
as  gods  and  invoked  as  such."  After  citing  the  "Morimo"  and 
the  "Unkulun-kulu"  of  the  Kaffirs,  he  mentions  the  "Waka  of 
the  Gallas"  which  seems  to  mean  the  "fecundating  and  rainy 
sky."  37 

If  the  Gallas  (who  are  not  negroes  and  who  would  not  admit 
this  first  misconception)  could  read  these  learned  works,  they 
^ would  reply  that  Waka  designates  also  the  supreme  Being, 
real  and  personal,  as  does  the  Allah  of  the  Arabs,  the  Jehovah 
of  the  Jews,  and  the  God  of  the  Christians.  In  fact,  they  have 
a  very  precise  idea  of  him,  as  we  shall  see  later  on.  If  the 
meaning  of  "sky"  is  attached  to  this  word  Waka — a  fact  of 
which  I  am  ignorant^ — it  is  not  the  material,  spread-out  sky 
that  we  perceive,  but  the  sky  personified,  best  giving  the  idea 
of  the  power  and  majesty  of  the  great  Spirit  who  dwells  there. 
To  converse  with  them  is  sufficient  evidence  that  this  is  so. 
Besides,  when  we  ourselves  say:  "Heaven  permitted  it;  please 
heaven;  heaven  has  not  wished  it,"  seriously,  do  we  mean  to 
speak  of  the  blue  sky  and  the  clouds?  As  with  us,  so  with 
the  Gallas  and  the  negroes. 

It  is  beyond  question  or  doubt  that  the  JSTegrillos  and  the 
Bantus  as  well  as  all  the  Blacks  of  Africa  acknowledge  and 
proclaim  the  existence  of  a  Being  superior  to  all,  to  whom  a 
special  name  is  given,  who  is  distinguished  from  other  spirits, 
from  the  manes,  shades,  and  elements,  and  whom  we  can 
identify  only  with  God. 

It  is  but  just  to  add  that  if  this  knowledge  seems  to  be  no- 

2"  Reville,  op.  cit.,  p.  54. 

"Abbe  Bros,  Religion  des  peuples  non  civilises,  p.  103. 


BELIEF  121 

where  absent,  it  is  far  from  being  equally  precise  and  living 
among  all  the  tribes  and  especially  with  all  individuals:  it  is, 
in  a  way,  a  diffused  knowledge  characterized,  however,  at  cer- 
tain points  and  certain  times  by  astonishing  precision;  else- 
where and  in  the  ordinary  course  of  life,  it  is  irresolute  and, 
as  it  were,  left  to  itself.  Some  of  the  Blacks,  when  naming 
God,  appear  to  confound  him  with  the  sky,  the  totality  of  the 
luminous  vault,  the  light  of  day,  and  so  forth.  That  is,  per- 
haps, what  has  caused  the  misunderstandings  we  have  just 
noted.  But,  after  all,  that  is  only  an  illusion:  approaching 
their  thought  more  closely  and  questioning  them  further  on 
this  point,  you  soon  perceive  that  there  is  no  identification  and 
that,  at  the  most,  they  have  considered  God  as  united  to -the 
sky  and  to  the  light,  like  the  spirit  of  man  united  to  his  body. 

However,  comparing  the  extraordinary  precision  of  the  lin- 
guistic data  of  the  Bantus  with  their  actual  ideas,  we  have 
an  impression  that  this  notion  of  the  Divinity  has  undergone 
an  evident  retrogression  with  them  and  that  it  was  much  more 
precise,  more  significative,  more  afiarmative  in  the  designation 
of  God  and  his  attributes  than  the  people  themselves  generally 
are  at  the  present  time. 

This  remark  agTees  with  observations  that  can  be  made  in 
India  upon  the  same  subject.  There,  before  the  reform  of 
Buddha,  Brahmanism  was  more  affirmative  regarding  the 
Divinity;  before  Brahmanism,  Vedism  was  still  clearer. 

It  was  the  same  in  China  before  Confucius  and  Lao-Tseu. 

After  establishing  this  fact,  it  is  now  opportune  to  make 
some  interesting  remarks  whose  importance  deserves  emphasis. 

1.  ISTo where  in  Africa  is  it  thought  that  God  can  be  forcibly 
influenced,  summoned,  or  localized  by  magical  ceremonies,  as 
is  done  with  the  manes,  spirits,  or  genii.  In  other  words, 
magic  has  no  power  over  God. 

2.  ISTowhere  in  Africa  is  God  represented  under  any  material 
form  whatsoever  nor  is  he  supposed  to  dwell  in  an  image,  a 
cave,  or  a  temple.  God  has  no  fetich.  The  very  idea  of  pre- 
senting a  material  object  as  God  would  appear  extravagant. 
"On  one  occasion,''  says  Dennett,  "the  writer  asked  a  native  if 


122  THE  RELIGION"  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

the  Bavili  made  no  images  of  ISTzambi.  ^Who  would  be  such 
a  fool?'  the  man  promptly  answered,  and  the  writer  said  no 
more."  ^^ 

The  same  reply  would  have  been  made  anywhere  in  Africa 
to  the  same  question. 

Eeal  idolatry,  such  as  is  sometimes  imagined,  consisting  in 
the  adoration  of  an  image  or  statue  that  would  represent  the 
figure  of  God  or  that  would  be  God  himself,  does  not  exist  in 
the  black  country.  What  we  do  find  there  is  a  worship  of 
images  or  fetiches  where  it  is  thought  spirits  or  genii  dwell 
or  exercise  their  influence.  These  spirits,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Latins,  in  our  languages  are  improperly  called  "gods." 
But  this  confusion  is  not  made  by  our  Blacks. 

3.  ISTo where  in  Bantu  Africa  is  God,  properly  speaking,  blas- 
phemed.^^ At  times  they  find  fault  with  him,  they  think  him 
indifferent  or  severe,  they  call  him  bad,  as  on  the  occasion 
of  a  drought,  a  misfortune,  a  public  calamity,  or  a  death.  But 
they  have  no  idea  of  addressing  God  with  words  of  contempt 
or  insult.  What  can  man  do  in  the  presence  of  God  except  be 
silent  and  wait? 

One  day  at  Bagamoyo  I  was  present  at  the  departure  of  a 
European,  an  agent  at  Zanzibar  for  a  Hamburg  house ;  he  was 
going  into  the  interior  to  look  for  ivory  at  Tabira.  The  cara- 
van, composed  of  l^yamwezis,  was  ready  to  leave.  The  chief 
of  the  porters  uttered  an  invocation:  "May  God  be  favorable 
to  us!"  "God,"  replied  the  European,  who  no  doubt  wished 
to  pose  in  a  swaggering  way  and  to  magnify  himself  in  the 
eyes  of  his  men,  "we  have  no  need  of  him.  My  God  is  my 
money  and  my  gun." 

The  porters  looked  at  him,  put  down  their  burdens,  and  be- 
gan to  withdraw.  The  European  (who  was  of  Jewish  extrac- 
tion) asked  me  to  intercede.     "JSTo,"  these  poor  people  replied. 

^Dennett,  op.  cit.,  p.  87. 

^^  Here  there  is  evidently  no  question  of  Blacks  more  or  less  Islamized 
or  Christianized.  As  for  blasphemy,  we  sometimes  hear  it  on  the  lips  of 
natives:  but  even  then,  it  is  an  evidence  of  their  faith.  Thus  the  Mpong- 
wes  of  Gabon  sometimes  say  in  anger  and  by  way  of  insult  to  God: 
Ungulungulu  jele  Anyamhye,  literally,  The  Almighty  is  not  Ood,  or,  God 
is  not  almighty. 


BELIEF  123 

"This  white  man  is  bad;  did  you  not  hear  him  insult  God? 
With  him,  we  would  be  sure  to  have  misfortune."  And  they 
all  left  him. 

God  exists.  But  where  is  he?  Who  is  he?  What  is  his 
origin  ?    What  are  his  attributes  ? 

To  these  difficult  questions,  our  primitives  certainly  do  not 
answer  with  the  abundance  and  clearness  of  orthodox  philoso- 
phers and  theologians.  To  tell  the  truth,  they  do  not  even  put 
these  questions  to  themselves ;  they  find  them  futile,  they  ignore 
them,  and  there  they  remain. 

Where  does  God  live? — "There,  above;  everywhere."  And 
they  point  to  the  great  expanse  of  the  sky.  "God  is  on  high," 
say  the  Giryamas  (eastern  Africa),  "the  manes  are  here 
below."  4^ 

According  to  Dr.  Krapf,  the  Wa-nika  say; 

"Everywhere  that  you  go,  God  is  there." 

"Take  care.     When  you  merely  quarrel,  he  hears  you." 

"Even  if  you  enter  a  ditch  to  hide,  God  sees  you."  ^^ 

On  the  other  hand,  certain  expressions  or  explanations  would 
tend  to  make  us  believe  that  God  is  conceived  as  a  sort  of  Being 
extended  throughout  the  world  and,  so  to  speak,  keeping  him- 
self in  the  background.  But  it  is  an  idle,  insoluble  question 
for  the  natives,  a  question  on  which  each  one  may  think  what 
he  wishes. 

We  will  not  insist  on  the  nature  of  God.  The  Bantus  do 
not  discuss  the  question  and  could  not  furnish  us  any  precise 
answer,  no  more  than  do  our  most  distinguished  philos- 
ophers. 

Accustomed  as  we  Europeans  are  to  consider  God  as  a  Spirit, 
as  the  Great  Spirit,  we  quite  naturally  transfer  this  conception 
and  expression  into  the  religion  of  savage  peoples.  But  in 
doing  so,  we  equivocate  and  lead  those  who  read  our  words 
into  real  error.     This  is  what  happened  to  Herbert  Spencer, 

^^W.  E.  Taylor,  op.  cit. 

**  Krapf  and  Rebiuann,  Nika-English  Diet. 


124  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Tylor,  and  all  their  school.  Andrew  Lang  makes  some  very 
just  remarks  on  this  point. *^ 

In  reality,  the  Bantus  do  not  conceive  God  as  we  would  be 
inclined  to  suppose.     Let  us  question  them. 

What  is  Mulungu? 

First  of  all,  Mulungu  is  not  mtu  Icama  watu,  "a  man  like 
men,''  i.e.,  a  being  like  another  being.  No.  But  this  does 
not  prevent  him  from  often  borrowing  a  number  of  anthropo- 
morphic attributes.     Yet  he  is  not  a  man. 

Nor  is  Mulungu  a  Mtima,  a  human  soul  living  in  the  world 
and  animating  it.  The  world  has  something  like  a  soul,  but 
it  is  not  Mulungu. 

Nor  is  Mulungu  a  Mzimu,  not  even  an  ancient  one  and  the 
first  of  the  Mzimu.  A  mzimu  is  a  disembodied  soul  that  has 
passed  through  death.     Mulungu  was  never  man,  he  never  dies. 

Might  Mulungu  be  a  Pepo?  No.  A  pepo  is  a  pepo,  and 
every  pefw  (spirit)  has  its  name.  To  say  of  Mulungu  that 
he  is  a  pepo  is  to  insult  him,  is  "to  talk  like  a  simpleton." 

Nor  is  Mulungu  Uwingu  (the  sky)  nor  Dyua  (the  sun)  nor 
A7iga  (the  light)  nor  Mwezi  (the  moon).  He  is  no  doubt  in 
them  all,  but  he  is  something  other  than  that. 

What  is  he  then? 

We  do  not  know.  He  is,  he  lives,  he  sees,  he  does  whatever 
he  wishes,  he  is  unseizable,  is  beyond  our  reach,  he  is  Mulungu. 
But  as  logic  is  not  the  strong  point  of  our  good  Blacks,  they 
will  easily  attribute  to  this  great  Mulungu  our  good  and  evil 
passions,  our  ideas,  our  preoccupations,  jealousies,  and  decep- 
tions. With  perfect  incoherence,  even  in  the  same  narrative, 
after  showing  the  sovereign  power  of  God  who  created  every- 
thing, they  will  speak  of  the  difficulties  he  has  encountered  in 
a  given  circumstance,  of  his  having  forgotten  something,  of 
his  fits  of  anger,  and  so  forth.  According  to  Dr.  Callaway 
(cited  by  A.  Lang),  it  is  the  same  with  the  Zulus.  Unkulun- 
kulu,  which  seems  to  have  designated  God  in  the  past,^^  has 
been  gxadually  confused  with  the  notion  of  the  first  man.     But 

"•^  Andrew  Lang,  The  Making  of  Religion,  p.  160. 

■^Tliis  conviction  comes  especially  from  the  comparison  of  this  word  with 
like  terms  employed  in  neighboring  tribes  and  among  them  solely  conse- 
crated to  distinguish  the  Supreme  Being.     See  footnote  40,  p.  122. 


BELIEF  185 

this  first  man,  Unkulunkulu,  is  "he  who  has  made  the  rain, 
the  grain,  the  food/'  As  this  word  came  no  longer  to  signify 
clearly  the  supreme  Being,  what  did  the  natives  do  ?  They 
took  another  word  that  would  not  lend  itself  to  confusion,  and 
now  "God"  for  them  has  become  "Utilexo,''  an  expression  bor- 
rowed from  a  neighboring  tribe. 

Therein  we  find  a  confirmation  of  what  we  have  already 
said :  the  diiferent  names  used  by  the  different  tribes  to  desig- 
nate God,  do  not  at  all  imply  different  gods.  The  Bantus 
have  not  the  least  idea  of  Hindu,  Greek,  or  Roman  polytheism. 
What  is  true  is  that  they  are  concerned  about  God  only  for 
themselves  and,  in  a  slight  degree,  for  their  family  and  tribe. 
Let  everyone  look  after  his  own  affairs ! 

Ethnologists  naturally  have  less  reserve  than  our  primitives 
in  this  matter  of  finding  the  origin  and  evolution  of  the  notion 
of  God. 

Many  of  those  scholars  flatly  denied  that  the  idea  existed 
among  the  savages.  This  was  the  thesis  of  Sir  John  Lubbock, 
a  position  which  has  had  to  be  universally  abandoned  in  the 
face  of  facts  and  the  impossibility  of  honestly  contesting  them. 

Then  they  managed  to  avoid  the  question  or  treated  it  in 
such  a  way  that,  amidst  the  enormous  mass  of  facts,  destined 
to  show  belief  in  the  personification  of  material  things,  in 
ghosts,  spirits,  totems,  etc.,  the  idea  of  God  passed  unperceived. 
This  was  the  method  of  Spencer,  Tylor,  Tiele,  Reville,  and 
others,  a  method  sharply  criticized  by  Andrew  Lang  in  his 
remarkable  work  The  Making  of  Religion,  which  they  have 
treated  with  as  much  silence  as  they  could. 

It  is  certainly  striking  that  the  most  primitive  tribes  have 
a  notion  of  God  which  is  the  more  precise  according  as  they 
are  more  uncivilized.  Such  are  the  E^egrillos  of  Africa,  the 
San,  the  Andamans,  the  Australians.  Some  way  must  be 
found  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  God;  hence  a  vast 
quantity  of  theories,  the  mere  exposition  of  which  would  fur- 
nish material  for  a  large  work.^^  Here  we  will  simply  say 
that,  in  general,  God  is  represented  to  us  as  the  final  and  neces- 
^  It  is  undertaken  by  Schmidt  in  Anthropos,  1908. 


126  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

sary  outcome  of  tlie  animist  idea,  as  tlie  chief  that  must  be 
found  for  the  multitude  of  spirits;  or  as  the  transformation 
and  deification  of  an  ancestor's  spirit;  or  as  the  personification 
of  an  element  of  nature,  of  the  totemistic  idea  or  the  social 
force.  These  theorists  have  taken  great  pains  to  get  around 
a  very  simple  question  which  they  seem  unwilling  to  look 
squarely  in  the  face. 

In  the  mind  of  our  ISTegrillos  and  Bantus,  Mulungu  (i.e., 
God)  is  certainly  not  the  sky — dry  or  rainy — nor  the  light  nor 
ithe  sun  nor  the  moon  nor  the  wind  nor  the  water  nor  the  earth, 
land  so  on.  He  is  in  all  of  them,  he  acts  in  and  by  all  these 
elements,  he  is  sometimes  assimilated  to  them,  but  his  per- 
.sonality  is  distinctly  separate  from  tliem :  he  is  something  else. 
'  God  is  not  in  their  minds  the  "power''  (totemistic  or  other- 
wise) of  nature  or  society,  in  the  sense  that  our  philosophers 
and  sociologists  mean  it :  this  refined,  critical  idea  is  altogether 
foreign  to  our  poor  savages. 

God  is  not  conceived  by  them  as  the  "Principle  of  Good" 
in  opposition  to  a  "Principle  of  Evil,"  whose  effects  would 
appear  to  our  eyes  and  for  which  our  mind  would  seek  a  cause : 
that,  too,  is  an  idea  that  is  not  in  vogue  in  the  black  country. 

God  is  not  to  them  a  deified  chief.  The  IsTegrillos  have  no 
chief,  they  do  not  claim  any  special  ancestor;  but  they  have  a 
very  precise  idea  of  God. 

God  is  not  to  them  a  "spirit,"  neither  the  "spirit"  of  a 
dead  man  nor  an  independent  "spirit" :  he  is  conceived  as 
anterior  to  death,  as  having  never  died  himself;  and  he  it  is 
precisely  who  commands  life.  He  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  spirits,  genii,  or  demons:  these  latter,  among  the  Bantus, 
are  not  considered  as  intermediaries  between  man  and  the 
Divinity.  We  repeat  that  the  Bantus  are  not  polytheists  and 
do  not  conceive  God  as  the  chief  or  king  of  the  gods.  He  is 
outside  of  all  that. 

Among  the  Blacks,  God  does  not  come  from  an  abstract  union 
in  one  personality  of  the  multitude  of  powers  and  qualities 
attributed  to  different  spirits,  nor  from  the  necessity  of  giving 
a  president  to  the  assembly  of  inferior  divinities,  nor  from 
any  like  conception.     Once  again  we  repeat,  these  ideas  pro- 


BELIEF  127 

ceed  from  speculations  to  which  the  black  world  is  a  total 
stranger. 

Whence,  then,  have  our  Bantus  received  the  idea  of  God? 
To  tell  the  truth,  in  this  study  we  prefer  to  prove  that  this 
idea  exists  rather  than  indicate  its  origin.  In  fact,  we  do 
not  know  its  origin.  At  most,  we  can  furnish  some  directive 
data  on  the  subject.  The  natives,  for  their  own  part,  do  not 
put  the  question  to  themselves.  Evidently  they  have  no  idea 
of  ens  a  se  any  more  than  they  have  of  eternity  or  of  distinct 
creation  ex  nihilo.  As  to  the  beginning  of  the  world,  the 
appearance  of  man,  and  similar  problems,  the  legends  vary  in 
the  different  tribes ;  this  may  be  a  proof  that  these  legends  are? 
not  very  ancient.  But  everywhere  we  find  God  presiding  over 
the  formation  of  the  world,  even  when  all  that  exists  is  sup- 
posed to  be  born  of  the  marriage  of  the  sky  and  the  earth :  that 
is  the  reason  for  many  of  the  names  given  him,  as  Katonda  ^^ 
(the  Creator),  Muumhi^^  (he  who  forms),  Murindzi  (he  who 
preserves),  Ahendaye  (he  who  does  well).  These  expressions 
and  many  others  found  in  most  of  the  Bantu  languages,  by 
placing  in  evidence  the  idea  of  author,  maker,  preserver,  show 
the  profound  impression  which  the  argument  of  causality  has 
made  upon  the  primitive.  Instinctively  he,  too,  feels  that  the 
marvelous  machinery  of  the  world  was  not  able  to  set  itself  up. 
Our  own  opinion  is  that  therein  is  to  be  found  the  primary  and 
veritable  basis  on  which  the  Bantus  rest  the  idea  of  God. 

This  notion  naturally  suggests  that  of  master,  proprietor, 
and  sovereign  of  the  universe:  Mwim/ezi  (he  who  has  the 
power).  ^^Hence  probably,"  says  Taylor,  "the  native  scruple 
about  selling  a  piece  of  land;  it  is  the  trees  only  that  are  con- 
sidered salable."  ^"^     This  is  just  what  we  have  said  above. 

God,  the  Master  of  the  world,  is  also  the  Father  of  men: 
Reri  yajio  (our  Father)  the  Mpongwes  of  Gabon  call  him; 
and  the  Bengas,  their  neighbors,  have  an  identical  appellation 
in  the  expression  Paia  Nzamhi.^^ 

"  Mgr.  Livinhac,  Les  Baganda,  Introd.  a  la  grammaire  gaiida. 

*^  Taylor,  op.  cit. 

*'Ibid.,  p.  47,  art.  "God." 

**  Nassau,  op.  cit. 


128  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

He,  the  autlior  of  life,  is  also  the  author  of  death  in  the  sense 
that  he  takes  the  souls  of  men  when  he  wishes  and  as  he  wishes 
with  no  one  ahle  to  hinder  or  reproach  him.  That  is  why, 
in  case  of  death,  the  Blacks  take  pains  to  find  out  whence  the 
fatal  issue  came :  if  it  is  the  deed  of  an  avowed  or  hidden  enemy, 
the  relative  must  he  avenged ;  if  it  is  caused  hy  a  spirit,  he  will 
be  disarmed  hy  a  sacrifice;  hut  if  it  comes  from  God,  there  is 
nothing  to  he  done.     What  can  he  done  against  God  ? 

The  Wa-nika  say  that  we  are  God's  hens  and  chickens  in 
this  world;  and  when  someone  dies,  it  means  that  a  stranger 
has  arrived  in  heaven  and  God  has  need  of  some  poultry  for 
the  feast.*^    But  evidently  that  is  only  one  of  their  fictions. 

Mu-lungu  ainula-ye,  apate  ku-kala  mzima  (May  God  be  able 
to  forget  him,  so  that  he  may  live ! ) ,  the  Giryamas  repeat  on 
learning  of  the  birth  of  a  child  to  one  of  their  friends. 

This  same  idea  rules  over  the  nomad  existence  of  the  little 
JSTegrillos.  If  one  of  them  dies,  it  means  that  God  has  dis- 
covered their  encampment.  So,  after  hiding  the  corpse  with 
great  mystery  in  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  tree  or  in  a  stream, 
they  break  camp  and  silently  depart  in  the  middle  of  the  night. 

It  is  God  who  sends  the  rain,  warning  men  of  its  coming 
by  the  voice  of  the  thunder;  and  it  is  he  who  keeps  it  back; 
it  is  he  who  makes  the  grass  grow  in  the  plains  for  the  herds ; 
it  is  he  who  makes  the  forest  green,  makes  the  fruits  ripen  and 
the  crops  prosper;  it  is  he  who  feeds  all — trees,  beasts,  and 
men.    The  entire  world,  in  fine,  is  dependent  on  him. 

As  God  is  nowhere  the  object  of  any  material  representation, 
as  the  family  and  tribal  cult  is  first  of  all  addressed  to  the 
manes  of  their  ancestors,  as  no  magic  art  can  reach  God,  who 
is  inaccessible  to  man,  and  as  ordinarily  he  wishes  us  only 
well,  they  are  very  little  concerned  about  him  except  in  words ; 
hence  travelers  have  passed  through  Africa,  seeing  scarcely 
a  trace  of  him  anywhere  in  the  religion  of  the  natives. 

This  is  ably  set  forth  and  explained  by  Robert  H.  Nassau, 
who  lived  forty  years  in  the  black  country  and  is  a  competent 
witness. 

*' Taylor,  op.  eit. 


BELIEF  129 

"I  can  readily  see,"  he  says,  ^'how  the  reports  of  some  trav- 
elers— even  of  those  who  had  no  prejudice  against  the  Negro, 
the  precepts  of  the  Bihle,  or  missionary  work — could  be  made 
in  apparent  sincerity,  when  they  state  that  native  Africans  have 
confessed  of  themselves  that  they  had  no  idea  of  God's  exis- 
tence ;  also,  their  belief  that  some  pygmy  and  other  tribes  were 
too  destitute  of  intelligence  to  possess  that  idea — that  it  either 
must  be  given  them  ah  extra  by  the  possessors  of  a  superior 
civilization,  or  must  be  developed  by  themselves  as  they  rise  in 
civilization. 

'The  difficulty  about  the  testimony  of  these  witnesses  in  this 
matter  is  that,  being  passers-by  in  time,  they  were  unable  by 
reason  of  lack  of  ability  to  converse  fluently,  or  absence  of  a 
reliable  interpreter,  or  of  being  out  of  touch  with  the  native 
mode  of  thought  or  speech — to  make  their  questions  intelligible. 

''On  the  heathen  side,  also,  the  obsequious  natives,  unaccus- 
tomed to  analytic  thought,  will  answer  vaguely  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment,  and  often  as  far  as  possible  in  the  line  of  what  they 
suppose  will  best  please  the  questioner.  All  native  statements 
must  be  discounted,  must  be  sifted.'' 

"I  am  aware,"  he  continues,  "that  some  missionaries  are 
quoted  as  having  said  or  written  that  the  people  among  whom 
they  were  laboring  'had  no  idea  of  God.'  Even  Kobert  Moffat 
is  reported  to  have  held  this  opinion.  If  so,  it  must  have  been 
in  the  earlier  days  of  his  ministry,  under  his  first  shock  at  the 
depth  of  native  degradation,  before  he  had  become  fluent  in 
the  native  language,  and  before  he  had  found  out  all  the  secrets 
of  that  difficult  problem,  an  African's  native  thought.  Such 
an  unqualified  phrase  could  be  uttered  by  a  missionary  in  an 
hour  of  depression,  in  the  presence  of  some  great  demonstration 
of  heathen  wickedness,  and  in  an  effort  to  describe  how  very 
far  the  heathen  was  from  God.  That  the  heathen  had  no  correct 
idea  of  God  is  often  true."  ^^ 

"After  more  than  forty  years'  residence  among  these  tribes," 
says  IsTassau,  "fluently  using  their  language,  conversant  with 
their  customs,  dwelling  intimately  in  their  huts,  associating 
with  them  in  the  varied  relations  of  teacher,  pastor,  friend, 
master,  fellow-traveler,  and  guest,  and,  in  my  special  office 
as  missionary,  searching  after  their  religious  thought  (and 
therefore  being  allowed  a  deeper  entrance  into  the  arcana  of 

°*^  Nassau,  op.  cit.,  p.  33. 


130  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

their  soul  than  would  be  accorded  to  a  passing  explorer) ,  I  am 
able  unhesitatingly  to  say  that  among  all  the  multitude  of  de- 
graded ones  with  whom  I  have  met,  I  have  seen  or  heard  of 
none  whose  religious  thought  was  only  a  superstition. 

^ 'Under  the  slightly  varying  form  of  Anyambe,  Anyambie, 
Njambi,  l^zambi,  Anzam,  ]^yam,  or,  in  other  parts,  Ukuku, 
Suku,  and  so  forth,  they  know  of  a  being  superior  to  themselves, 
of  whom  they  themselves  inform  me  that  he  is  the  Maker  and 
Father,  The  divine  and  human  relations  of  these  two  names 
at  once  give  me  ground  on  which  to  stand  in  beginning  my 
address. 

''If  suddenly  they  should  be  asked  the  flat  question,  'Do  you 
know  Anyambe?'  they  would  probably  tell  any  white  visitor, 
trader,  traveler,  or  even  missionary,  under  a  feeling  of  their 
general  ignorance  and  the  white  man's  superior  knowledge, 
'^N'o!  What  do  we  know?  You  are  white  people  and  are 
spirits;  you  come  from  J^jambi's  town,  and  know  all  about 
him!'  (This  will  help  to  explain  what  is  probably  true,  that 
some  natives  have  sometimes  made  the  thoughtless  admission 
that  they  'know  nothing  about  a  God.')"  ^^ 

It  is  interesting  to  cite  the  testimony  of  another  witness, 
for  Albert  Reville  was  well  acquainted  with  him  and  often 
quotes  him,  except  when  this  competent  witness  speaks  of  the 
knowledge  of  God. 

J.  L.  Wilson  writes: 

"The  belief  in  one  great  Supreme  Being  is  universal  [in 
Africa].  Nor  is  this  idea  held  imperfectly  or  obscurely  devel- 
oped in  their  minds.  The  impression  is  so  deeply  engraved 
upon  their  moral  and  mental  nature  that  any  system  of  atheism 
strikes  them  as  too  absurd  and  preposterous  to  require  a  denial. 
Everything  which  transpires  in  the  natural  world  beyond  the 
power  of  man  or  of  spirits  who  are  supposed  to  occupy  a  place 
somewhat  higher  than  man,  is  at  once  and  spontaneously  as- 
cribed to  the  agency  of  God.  All  the  tribes  in  the  country 
with  which  the  writer  has  become  acquainted  (and  they  are 
not  a  few)  have  a  name  for  God ;  and  many  of  them  have  two 
or  more,  significant  of  his  character  as  a  Maker,  Preserver,  and 
Benefactor."  ^^ 

"Nassau,  p.  36. 

"J.  L.  Wilson,  Western  Africa,  p.  209. 


BELIEF  131 

Here  we  conclude  this  brief  survey  of  the  religious  beliefs 
of  our  Bantu  primitives,  which  form  the  basis  of  their  morals, 
worship,  and  ceremonial  organization. 

As  we  have  said,  these  beliefs  relate  to  visible  nature  and  to 
nature  invisible.  In  visible  nature  reside  the  innate  forces  or 
souls  of  things,  dominated  by  the  hidden  presence  of  the  mys- 
terious and  sovereign  Master.  There  are  some  gifted  men 
whose  look  penetrates  the  things  beyond.  They  will  tell  you 
that  invisible  nature  is  arranged  on  three  different  planes: 
that  of  the  manes  of  their  ancestors,  with  which  they  should 
remain  in  contact;  that  of  the  sjDirits,  genii,  or  demons  who 
enter  into  their  life  and  are  capable  of  good  and  evil — of  evil 
rather  than  good — and  over  whom  they  happily  still  have  con- 
trol; lastly,  that  of  God  who,  from  the  depth  of  the  universal 
scheme,  rules  over  all,  and  men  are  not  able  to  do  anything 
for  him  or  against  him.  This  is  why  the  natives  of  the  black 
continent,  passing  through  life  in  the  same  mentality,  at  once 
careless,  fearful,  and  resigned,  trying  to  face  the  surprises  of 
life  day  by  day,  thinking  of  the  morrow  only  to  hope  for  better 
fortune,  might  all  sing  this  song,  so  full  of  unexpressed  sig- 
nificance, which  the  Pahouins  of  the  equatorial  forest  of 
Gabon  put  on  the  lips  of  Fam,  the  first  man : 

Yeye !    0  la !    yeye ! 
God  above,  man  below. 
Yeye !    O  la !    yeye ! 
God   is  God;   man  is  man: 
Each  one  in  his  house,  each  one 
at  home !  ^^ 

^^Trilles,  Contes  et  legendes,  etc.,  p.  83. 


CHAPTER  V 

MOEALITY 

I.     What  is  Morality?     Definition.     Division. 

II.  The  Basis  of  Morality.  Relativity  and  variability:  confusions. 
The  distinction  between  good  and  evil.  Fundamental  idea  of  jus- 
tice, basis  of  the  morality  of  the  primitives.  Principle  and  ap- 
plications. 

III.  Religion    and    Morality.     "Morality    is    independent    of    religion." 

Reply  and  explanations. 

IV.  Morality  of  the  Bantus.     The  purpose  of  life.     Natural  and  posi- 

tive law.  Duties  towards  the  invisible  world.  In  the  presence  of 
nature:  the  sacred  prohibition  or  taboo.  The  opinion  of  Solomon 
Reinach  on  the  origin  and  evolution  of  morality.  The  idea  of  the 
primitive  and  the  principle  of  the  taboo.  The  profane  and  the 
sacred:  religion,  morality,  and  conscience.  Extension  and  abuse  of 
the  taboo.  Morality  of  the  family:  infancy;  initiation,  circum- 
cision, marriage,  life,  death.  Social  morality.  Individual  morality. 
A  code  of  morality  (Loango).  Sin.  Remission  of  sin:  confession! 
The  sanction  of  morality.  The  sanctions  of  the  invisible  world. 
Summary. 

I.     What  Is  Morality? 
Definition.     Divisions 

Morality,  according  to  its  etymology,  is  the  rule  of  conduct, 
i.e.,  the  rule  of  our  free  actions  in  relation  to  our  last  end; 
according  as  they  conform  to  it  nor  not,  they  are  good  or  bad, 
meritorious  or  deserving  of  punishment.^ 

This  definition  can  be  accepted  by  all  the  schools.  They 
will  all  likewise  agree  that  morality  is  necessary  for  man  and 
for  society.  Is  it  not  humiliating  for  our  human  reason  to 
have  to  state  that  ever  since  the  philosophers  began  to  discuss 
the  question — and  that  was  long  ago — they  have  never  been 

^A.  Vacant,  Diet,  apologet.  de  la  foi  catholiqiie  of  J.  B.  Jauger  (art. 
"Morale").  St.  Thomas  said  the  same:  "Tlie  whole  life  of  man  should  be 
directed  to  the  highest  and  ultimate  end  of  human  nature."  (Eth.  lib.  I, 
Uct.  2.) 

132 


MORALITY  133 

able  to  agree  on  the  nature  and  foundations  of  a  thing  so 
simple,  so  indispensable,  and  so  universally  well  known  as 
morality  ? 

Since  they  are  not  in  accord  as  to  the  "last  end"  of  man, 
they  can  not  agree  on  what  is  in  conformity  with  it  and  what 
is  not,  what  is  good  and  what  is  bad,  what  constitutes  our  rights 
and  what  our  duties,  and  on  what  indisputable  principles  rests 
that  moral  law  which  should  govern  our  lives. 

But  among  all  the  discussions  that  have  been  carried  on  dur- 
ing the  ages,  we  can  distinguish  two  great  trends  of  opinion. 

1.  One  of  them  connects  morality  with  religion  so  closely 
that,  according  to  A.  Franck,  "it  is  no  more  possible  to  con- 
ceive a  religion  without  morality  than  a  morality  without 
religion."  ^  In  fact,  all  religious  belief,  however  imperfect 
and  crude,  necessarily  offers  man  either  a  model  to  follow  or  a 
master  to  satisfy,  i.e.,  a  rule  superior  to  any  which  he  might  be 
able  to  found  on  his  own  interests  and  passions.  A  god  who  asks 
nothing  is  reduced  to  a  vain  abstraction.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  also  quite  evident  that  legislation  resting  only  on  itself, 
i.e.,  on  the  promises  and  threats  it  is  able  to  devise,  with  no 
appeal  to  a  higher  and  indisputable  authority  than  can  be  im- 
posed on  the  conscience,  without  invoking  any  right  or  prin- 
ciple of  a  superhuman  order — such  legislation  would  be  an 
undertaking  condemned  from  the  start. 

"Thus,  whatever  aspect  of  morality  we  consider,"  says 
Vacant,  "finally  it  is  in  God  we  must  seek  its  reason  and  foun- 
dation. If  we  consider  this  law  as  the  expression  of  good  and 
evil,  its  rule  is  the  infinite  intelligence;  if  we  consider  its 
obligatory  character,  we  find  its  source  in  the  divine  will ;  if  we 
seek  to  know  how  it  is  possible  to  enforce  the  sanction  of  the 
moral  laws  exacted  by  justice,  it  is  only  God  who  possesses 
the  knowledge,  equity,  and  power  necessary  to  do  justice  to  these 
legitimate  claims.  In  God  alone,  therefore,  does  the  moral 
law  find  its  rule,  its  principle,  and  its  crown."  ^ 

2.  Those  who  belong  to  the  other  current  of  opinion,  utili- 
tarians,   evolutionists,    positivists,    subjectivists,    independents, 

'A.  Franck,  Diet,  des  sciences  philosophiques,  art,  "Morale." 
"A.  Vacant,  op.  oiU 


134  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

agree,  in  spite  of  partial  differences,  in  seeking  the  rule  and 
basis  of  the  moral  law  outside  of  God  and  religion.  To-day 
in  France  and  other  countries,  where  the  schools  are  officially 
more  and  more  avoiding  religious  instruction,  there  is  particu- 
lar concern  not  to  let  morality  vanish  into  the  air,  and  to  find 
a  new  basis  for  it.  Might  not  science  be  that  basis,  not  com- 
plete science  embracing  philosophy  and  theology,  but  the 
natural  sciences,  medicine,  hygiene,  political  economy,  etc.? 
Thus  guided,  morality  would  be  the  continuation  of  the  efforts 
by  which  man,  from  prehistoric  times  to  our  own  day,  has 
sought  to  civilize  himself,  by  "cooperation  and  ''solidarity." 
Hence,  as  Payot  concludes,  ''all  our  duties  .  .  .  can  be  summed 
up  in  a  single  affirmation:  to  love  and  respect  life,  to  live  our 
life  of  man,  i.e.,  our  conscious  life,  by  giving  it  all  the  intensity, 
breadth,  and  depth  that  it  can  attain."  *  For  these,  our  official 
moralists,  "the  end  of  man"  is,  then,  man  himself. 

IL     The  Basis  of  Morality 

We  considered  it  useful  briefly  to  point  out  this  double 
tendency  towards  two  extremes  clearly  opposed  to  each  other. 
But  we  have  here  no  reason  to  mingle  in  these  disputes.  We 
have  a  plan  of  our  own.  To  remain  faithful  to  our  plan  and 
stay  in  the  realm  of  facts,  it  will  suffice  for  us  to  answer  the 
following  questions : 

1.  Have  the  primitives  a  morality  ? 

2.  If  so,  what  relation  has  it  to  religion  ? 

3.  What  is  that  morality  ? 

To  the  first  of  these  questions,  the  school  whose  assertions 
we  have  just  considered,  replies  as  usual  without  any  hesita- 
tion : 

"Morality  has  no  more  been  always  innate  in  us  than  the 
religious  sentiment.  If  it  has  finally  become  so,  it  is  only  after 
long  ages  of  heredity  have  implanted  it  in  our  soul.  Like 
language,  religion,  and  other  institutions,  it  varies  from  one 
race  to  another.    There  is  no  universal  morality,  but  only  local 

*  Payot,  Cov/rs  de  mprale,  1907. 


MOEALITY  135 

and  temporary.  Pascal's  remark  that  ^theft,  incest,  the  murder 
of  children  and  fathers,  all  have  had  their  place  among  vir- 
tuous acts,'  is  absolutely  true. 

^'We  see  this  to  be  the  case  when  we  examine  in  detail  the 
customs  of  ancient  civilizations.  We  observe  usages  so  contrary 
to  ours,  we  encounter  acts  so  strange,  yet  approved  and  recom- 
mended by  the  morality  of  the  time,  that,  in  order  not  to  depart 
from  philosophical  impartiality,  in  order  not  to  approve  or  blame 
but  only  to  understand,  we  must  place  ourselves  face  to  face 
with  the  human  conscience  and  be  persuaded  that  it  also,  like 
the  intellect  and  all  the  other  faculties,  is  subject  to  the  law 
of  evolution.'' 

'We  are  here,"  continues  Gustave  le  Bon,  ''in  the  presence 
of  a  grave  problem  which  illustrious  minds,  under  the  sway  of 
powerful  prejudices,  have  often  wished  to  solve  contrary  to 
science.  Kant,  Condorcet,  Buckle,  and  others  have  pretended 
that  the  morality  of  all  peoples  is  identical  and  remains  inva- 
riable through  the  ages. 

"We  can  scarcely  understand  how  philosophers  have  been 
able  to  maintain  such  an  assertion.  Pascal  saw  more  clearly 
when  he  said:  'Truth  on  this  side  of  the  Pyrenees,  error  on 
the  other  side.' 

"Let  us  take  an  example.  It  is  an  almost  general  custom 
among  savage  peoples,  a  custom  that  must  have  been  very  wide- 
spread at  the  beginning  of  humanity,  to  kill  one's  parents  in 
order  to  save  them  from  the  infirmities  of  old  age  and  especially 
to  end  this  drain  on  the  food  supply.  Among  all  those  who 
follow  this  custom,  no  idea  of  crime  attaches  to  it;  on  the  con- 
trary, nearly  everywhere  it  has  the  sanction  of  religion;  the 
sacrifice  is  performed  with  great  pomp  and  is  terminated  by  a 
feast."  5 

"There  is  no  universal  morality !"  This  is  an  error  and  the 
various  assertions  we  have  just  cited,  expressing  the  ideas  of  a 
whole  school,  rest  on  a  simple  confusion  that  can  be  easily 
explained. 

Considering  only  the  populations  with  which  we  are  at  pres- 
ent concerned,  populations  which,  we  repeat,  are  regarded 
among  the  least  advanced  in  the  whole  world,  we  will  state  a 

°  Gustave  Le  Bon,  Les  premieres  civilisations,  p.  87. 


136  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

primary  fact.  Their  languages,  although  generally  well  pro- 
vided with  verbs  and  nouns,  are  very  poor  in  adjectives,  yet 
everywhere  you  find  some  to  characterize  what  is  good  and 
what  is  bad,  true  and  false,  just  and  unjust.  The  distinction 
of  good  and  evil,  not  merely  of  physical  but  moral  good  and 
evil,  is  a  thing  so  elementary  that  you  would  greatly  astonish 
the  most  savage  of  these  people  if  you  seem  to  deny  it.  They 
have  a  number  of  things  that  are  licit,  and  a  number  that  are 
forbidden. 

Moreover,  the  individual  responsibility  of  the  adult  free 
man  of  sound  mind  is  the  very  basis  among  them  of  reward 
and  punishment. 

When  we  look  for  the  fundamental  and  primary  idea  that 
inspires  in  the  primitives  respect  for  laws  and  customs,  re- 
strictions on  the  absolute  use  of  nature's  gifts,  and,  to  use 
Eeinach's  expression,  ^^scruples" — just  as  we  discovered  behind 
all  their  beliefs  the  invisible  and  distant  presence  of  a  sovereign 
Being,  so  here,  behind  their  morality  and  sustaining  it,  we 
shall  find  an  innate  and  instinctive  sentiment  of  justice,  joined 
to  a  certain  impulse  for  good  and  aversion  for  evil. 

It  is  this  sentiment  of  justice  that  must  have  originally 
inspired  the  principle  of  the  sacred  interdict  or  taboo.  In 
taking  what  nature  freely  abandoned  to  him,  man  believed  that 
he  ought  to  restrain  his  hand  from  what  his  hidden  Master 
had,  by  some  sigTi  or  other,  declared  that  he  wished  to  reserve 
for  himself. 

Again,  men  worship  because  justice  also  requires  man  to 
pay  a  form  of  worship  to  the  manes  of  his  ancestors,  tutelary 
spirits,  the  genii,  and  God.  Eeligion  is  a  right  that  the  invisible 
world  has  from  us :  hence  we  have  the  duty  of  satisfying  tha,t 
claim.  That  accounts  for  funeral  ceremonies,  feasts,  dances, 
songs,  sacrifices,  all  that  constitutes  religion. 

It  is  justice,  well  or  ill  interpreted,  that  obliges  children 
to  respect  and  obey  their  parents,  give  them  their  earnings, 
defend  them  against  aggression,  have  a  care  for  their  manes, 
avenge  them  even  to  such  an  extent  that  they  must  bequeath 
the  obligation  to  their  own  children  if  they  themselves  are 
unable  to  perform  this  vengeance :  blood  for  blood !  life  for  life ! 


MOEALITY  137 

But  if  parents  or  the  heads  of  the  family,  in  their  turn,  wish 
to  concern  themselves  ahout  their  children,  it  is  as  they  choose, 
they  owe  them  nothing  or  very  little ;  they  have  "made"  them, 
and  then,  too,  they  are  their  masters ! 

So,  also,  is  it  with  a  man's  rights  over  his  wife.  He  has  paid 
for  her ;  she  belongs  to  him,  she  is  his  property.  In  some  tribes 
at  least  he  may  sell  her  again,  put  her  in  pawn,  give  her  up, 
rent  her  out,  or  lend  her.  But  if  someone  else  uses  her  without 
permission  or  indemnity,  justice  requires  that  the  wrong  be 
repaired.     This  reparation  is  generally  by  means  of  a  fine. 

With  all  the  more  reason  can  a  master  dispose  of  his  slaves 
not  only  for  his  work  but  to  free  himself  from  a  debt,  to  make 
an  exchange,  to  offer  a  human  sacrifice,  to  substitute  them  for 
himself  at  a  judicial  ordeal,  etc.  Are  they  not  his  property? 
He  bought  them,  inherited  them,  or  took  them  in  war. 

The  rights  of  a  father  or  of  a  master  are  also  those  of  the 
chief  or  the  king  and  especially  are  they  attached  to  the  super- 
natural world  and  its  representatives,  i.e.,  authority  and  power. 
So  it  happens  that,  in  Africa,  solely  to  show  his  dexterity  and 
independence,  we  sometimes  see  a  powerful  chief  strike  the 
head  of  the  first  man  he  meets  or  sacrifice  human  hecatombs, 
as  formerly  was  done  in  Uganda,  Upper  Ubanghi,  or  Dahomey, 
without  provoking  any  murmu^'  on  the  part  of  his  subjects. 

Justice  makes  the  Blacks  respect  their  vows  and  oaths  and 
alliances  sealed  by  fraternity  of  blood.  Justice  punishes  the 
perjurer,  the  traitor,  the  false  witness,  the  calumniator,  the 
thief,  the  assassin,  the  malefactor,  all  those  who  have  wronged 
another.  Justice  inspires  those  interminable  African  palavers, 
those  adjustments  of  accounts  that  are  never  adjusted,  those 
old  matters  that  reappear  after  ten,  twenty,  fifty,  or  a  hundred 
years.  Justice  is  at  the  basis  of  those  judicial  trials  or  ordeals 
to  which  so  often  appeal  is  made  in  Africa,  which  everyone 
accepts  and  the  accused  themselves  are  often  the  first  to  invoke 
in  order  to  declare  their  innocence.  As  in  other  countries,  in 
the  name  of  liberty,  fraternity,  and  progress,  good  simple  peo- 
ple are  ruined,  thrown'  into  prison,  pursued,  hunted,  or  killed ; 
so  in  Africa,  in  the  belief  that  justice  requires  it,  false 
sorcerers  are  poisoned,  the  piles  of  ebony  are  lighted  under 


138  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

criminals  who  are  such  by  name  only,  and  thousands  of  innocent 
heads  are  cut  off. 

It  is  justice,  alas  !     And  it  is  morality  I 

This  feeling  is  so  natural  and  so  general  that,  although  the 
Black  accepts  without  recrimination  or  rancor  the  punishment 
that  he  has  deserved  by  some  fault  for  which  he  feels  guilty, 
he  does  not  consent  to  be  punished  unjustly.  The  children  as 
well  as  the  men  are  very  sensitive  in  these  matters,  especially 
if  they  are  thus  unfairly  punished  by  a  European  who,  as  a 
superior  man,  ought  always  show  his  superiority  by  his  sense 
of  justice.  Africans  say  that,  if  many  whites,  in  the  "peaceful 
penetration"  of  the  black  continent,  have  fallen  victims  of 
their  daring,  stricken  down  by  the  savages,  most  of  them 
have  been  victims  of  injustice,  their  own  or  the  injustice 
of  some  one  of  their  party,  or  of  some  European  who  preceded 
them. 

'Now  we  have  the  key  to  the  misunderstanding  noted  above. 
If  the  very  principle  of  justice,  with  the  definite  notion  of 
good  and  evil,  is  the  basis  of  the  moral  life  of  the  Blacks,  and 
of  the  primitives  in  general,  the  practical  application  they 
make  of  it  in  detail  is  often  deplorably  erroneous.  To  take 
the  example  given  us  above,  there  are  American  savages  that 
kill  their  aged  parents.  No  doubt !  But  in  acting  thus,  these 
devoted  children  intend  to  render  a  service  to  their  elders,  to 
deliver  them  from  the  miseries  of  this  life  and  procure  another 
life  for  them  in  which  they  will  be  more  agile ;  at  the  same  time 
they  act  on  a  social  necessity,  since  in  their  constant  hunting 
life  they  can  not  take  these  poor  stiffened  members  along  with 
j-hem.  In  Africa  many  tribes  likewise  practice  infanticide: 
here  it  is  a  question  of  children  "ill"  born,  who  can  not  live, 
they  think,  without  causing  disaster  to  their  family,  their 
village,  and  their  tribe.  They  must  be  eliminated;  as  in  our 
well-organized  societies  we  eliminate  individuals  who  are  rec- 
ogTiized  as  a  public  danger. 

We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  attentive  and  comparative 
study  of  our  primitives  proves  that  philosophers  like  Kant, 
Condorcet,  Buckle,  and  others  who  have  maintained  that  the 
basis  of  morality  is  identical,  universal,  and  innate  in  man, 


MOEALITY  139 

are  right.  'Nov  was  Pascal  wrong  in  his  well-known  aphorism: 
^'Truth  on  this  side  of  the  Pyrenees,  error  on  the  other." 
Pascal  spoke  of  the  application  of  morality :  of  these,  and  these 
alone,  can  we  say  that  they  are  '^local  and  temporary."    . 

III.     Keligion  and  Mokality 
The  same  school  continues: 

^'The  factors  of  morality  are  extremely  numerous ;  some  reside 
in  a  realm  of  most  delicate  psychology  and  their  action  takes 
place  in  the  most  secret  depths  of  the  soul ;  they  are  unequally 
combined  and  they  do  not  everywhere  influence  the  other  factors 
in  an  identical  manner.  Consequently  the  evolution  of  human 
morality  is  very  difficult  to  follow  and  it  is  not  yet  possible, 
considering  the  imperfect  state  of  our  experimental  sciences, 
to  indicate  more  than  its  principal  features. 

''At  the  outset,"  they  tell  uSj  ''we  must  almost  entirely  elim- 
inate an  influence  that  was  formerly  supposed  to  be  prepon- 
derant in  the  question  of  morality,  but  which,  in  reality,  is 
always  found  to  occupy  a  very  secondary  place.  It  is  the^  influ- 
ence of  religious  beliefs.  .  .  .  For  some  centuries  past,  in  the 
West,  we  have  seen  the  ministers  of  different  religions  assume 
the  function  of  moral  directors  and  dictate  to  us,  as  the  expres- 
sion of  the  divine  will,  the  most  precise  commandments  of  daily 
conduct.  But  this  is  an  innovation  of  modern  times  which 
would  astonish  certain  oriental  peoples  who  believe  the  gods  too" 
much  above  us  to  be  concerned  about  our  conduct  with  one 
another. 

"Morality,  as  we  understand  it  to-day,  freed  itself  very  slowly 
from  the  instincts  of  primitive  ferocity.  While  it  was  gradiially 
improving  on  the  earth,  mystic  dreamers  longed  to  locate  it  in 
heaven  and  see  it  descend  and  be  joined  to  the  religious  prin- 
ciple. But  for  the  philosopher,  morality  will  remain  eternally 
distinct  from  religion.  The  gods  are  born,  gTow  powerful,  and 
die.  Their  imposing  shadows  flit  about  humanity  and  can  van- 
ish without  morality  being  diminished.  Morality  is  in  ourselves 
and  must  remain  in  ourselves.  It  is  the  daughter  of  the  neces- 
sities that  govern  us.  It  helps  us  to  support  them.  As  the 
fundamental  element  of  our  societies,  it  develops  with  them  and 
at  the  same  time  as  we  ourselves.  Only  when  heredity  shall 
have  solidly  planted  it  in  our  hearts  and  given  it  the  force  of 


140  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

an  instinct,  will  we  be  able  to  say  that  it  is  truly  constituted. 
We  are  too  near  ancient  barbarism  for  it  to  be  so  yet. 

'The  chief  factors  in  the  development  of  morality  are  these : 
utility,  opinion,  environment,  the  affective  feelings,  heredity. 
For  the  reasons  given  above,  we  do  not  mention  religion  among 
them."  « 

''The  relation  of  morality  to  religion,"  says  Tylor,  "is  one 
that  belongs  in  its  rudiments,  or  not  at  all,  to  rudimentary 
civilization.  .  .  .  Savage  animism  is  almost  devoid  of  that 
ethical  element  which  to  the  educated  modern  mind  is  the  very 
mainspring  of  practical  religion.  .  .  .  But  these  ethical  law's 
stand  on  their  own  ground  of  tradition  and  public  opinion, 
comparatively  independent  of  the  animistic  belief  and  rites 
which  exist  beside  them."  "^ 

Other  authors  unconsciously  echo  these  assertions  when  they 
write,  without  explanation,  that  the  various  spirits  rarely  set 
a  good  example  in  the  religions  of  the  savages,  or  that  evil 
gods  occupy  an  important  place,  or  that  the  knowledge  of  God 
has  no  influence  on  the  primitive's  conduct  of  life. 

We  wish  to  say  at  once  that  this  last  statement  (with  the 
modification  we  will  presently  give  it)  seems  to  us  rather  just. 

As  to  the  "evil  gods"  who  "often  occupy  an  important  place 
in  the  religion  of  savages,"  ^  we  will  merely  reply  that  this 
word  "gods"  seems  ill  chosen,  for  it  is  applied  to  beings  very 
different  from  one  another  and  seems  to  suppose  a  hierarchy 
which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  does  not  exist.  Do  these  "evil 
gods"  form  part  of  religion  or  of  magic,  i.e.,  of  religion  or  anti- 
religion?  If  the  evil  spirits  in  question  are  opposed  and  re- 
pudiated by  religion,  we  have  no  right  to  consider  them  the 
directing  spirits  of  religion.     The  confusion  is  evident. 

It  is  incontestable — perhaps  this  is  what  they  wish  to  say — 
that  the  religion  of  the  primitives  does  not  seek  examples  or 
lessons  of  virtue  in  the  manes,  guardian  spirits,  or  genii.  The 
very  idea  would  seem  strange  to  the  primitives. 

But  it  is  no  less  incontestable  that  religion  as  such  and  in 

'  Le  Bon,  op.  oit.,  pp.  91,  95. 

'  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  II,  p.  360.     "Numerous  facts  in  favor  of  this 
thesis  may  be  found  in  Lubbock."     (Abbe  Bros,  op.  cit.,  p.  219.) 
■Abbe  Bros,  op.  dt.,  p.  114. 


MORALITY  141 

the  name  of  invisible  beings  that  it  represents,  imposes  certain 
precepts  and  prohibitions  as  a  duty  upon  its  adherents,  with 
a  sanction  that  reaches  the  responsible  individuals.  This  is 
largely  the  morality  of  the  primitive  and  that  morality  is  so 
dependent  on  religion  as  to  be,  so  to  speak,  identified  with  it. 

Father  Lagrange,  in  his  fine  Etude  sur  les  religions  semi- 
tiques,  incidentally  touches  on  this  question.     He  writes : 

^'We  must  recognize  that  all  those  who  practice  religion  be- 
lieve themselves  obliged  to  do  it.  Nowhere  do  they  resolve  to 
observe  it  by  a  free  choice  and  because  it  procures  advantages 
^iiiey  could  neglect.  Eeligious  men  have  always  believed  that 
the  relations  they  wished  to  sustain  with  the  Divinity  were 
willed  by  Him,  that  He  exercised  a  certain  control  over  their 
life  and  expected  certain  acts  from  them.  All  religion  contains 
an  obligation,  and  a  moral  obligation,  for  the  morality  of  an 
act  is  indissolubly  bound  to  the  idea  of  obligation.  Those  who 
deny  that  religion  has  moral  obligations,  no  doubt  wish  to  say 
that  this  primitive  morality  is  not  always  the  same  as  ours,  but 
that  matters  little  for  us  at  present.  Keligion  supposes  a  double 
belief:  the  existence  of  higher  powers  on  whom  man  depends 
and  who  require  certain  acts  of  him,  and  also  the  possibility  of 
entering  into  relation  with  these  powers.  These  relations  them- 
selves constitute  religion."  ^ 

Far  from  the  field  where  Father  Lagrange  so  brilliantly  con- 
ducts his  labors  and  combats,  Reinach  comes  to  our  aid.  The 
pleasure  of  ^appealing  to  him  is  more  rare  than  we  could  wish 
it  were.    He  says: 

"Let  philosophy  preach  as  she  will  that  morality  is  the  cre- 
ation of  reason,  the  human  heart  believes  by  instinct  that  it 
is  nearer  of  kin  to  religion.  That  kinship  has  always  existed 
nor  can  it  be  said  that  time  has  loosened  the  tie :  still,^  the  inti- 
macy has  been  modified,  and  here,  as  elsewhere,  specialization 
has  come  into  play. 

"Morality  is  the  discipline  of  custom,"  he  tells  us.  "The 
word  discipline  implies  restraint — an  influence  exerted  on  man 
with  a  view  to  curbing,  in  a  given  interest,  his  liberty  of  action 
toward  his  neighbor  and  himself.     A  restriction  of  this  type 

•Rev.  M.  J.  Lagrange,  Etudes  sur  les  religions  semitiques,  p.  7. 


142  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

falls  into  tlie  category  of  taboos,  of  which  prohibitions  with 
a  permanent  moral  validity  are  only  a  particular  case.  Now 
it  is  a  characteristic  feature  of  ancient  religious  codes,  the 
Mosaic  law  included,  that  no  clear  distinction  is  drawn  between 
moral  vetoes  and  others  of  a  superstitious  or  ritualistic  caste/'  ^^ 

These  remarks  are  perfectly  just.  Without  insisting  further 
upon  a  point  that  appears  to  us  sufficiently  well  established,  we 
will  try  to  reply  to  the  third  question,  the  most  important  one : 
what  is  the  morality  of  the  primitives  ? 

IV.     The  Morality  of  the  Bantus 

The  reply  is  difficult  to  shape  because  it  is  not  easy  to 
arrange  the  matter  in  precise  and  complete  divisions. 

If,  in  fact,  ^ ^morality  is  the  rule  of  our  free  actions  in  rela- 
tion to  our  last  end,''  everything  will  depend  on  the  idea  man 
has  of  that  end.  But  this  is  a  question  the  Black  does  not  put 
to  himself.  Like  a  traveler  who  has  unconsciously  lost  his 
directions,  he  keeps  moving  and,  while  he  waits  to  cross  the 
mysterious  bridge  of  death,  seems  to  have  no  other  care  than 
to  draw  from  life  whatever  good  it  can  furnish  him  and  to 
avoid  whatever  can  bring  him  harm. 

From  this  present  tense  and  practical  point  of  view,  the 
primitive  directs  his  acts  and  fulfills  what  he  believes  to  be  his 
duty. 

As  he  has  no  precise  symbol  of  doctrine,  he  has  no  clearly 
established  mpral  code:  customs  make  up  his  practice,  handed 
down  from  his  ancestors,  carefully  preserved,  undisputed,  gen- 
erally observed,  and  nearly  always  enforced  by  the  fear  of 
punishments. 

However,  when  our  analytic  mind  tries  to  penetrate  this  mass 
made  up  of  all  sorts,  excellent,  good,  useless,  ridiculous,  bad, 
and  atrocious,  we  can  distinguish,  as  in  every  other  human 
society,  two  kinds  of  law. 

There  is  the  natural  law,  already  referred  to  in  speaking  of 
justice,  which  forms  the  basis  and  substratum  of  whatever  is 
good,  just,  honest,  and,  so  to  speak,  moral  in  our  primitives, 

"Reinach,  op.  cit.,  202. 


MORALITY  143 

and,  hj  tlie  fact  that  they  are  men,  is  for  them  what  it  is  for 
all  men.    We  will  not  say  more  of  this  at  present. 

And  there  is  the  positive  law,  ordering  or  forbidding  certain 
acts.  Its  purpose  is  to  regulate  the  rights  and  duties  of  man 
in  relation  to  the  invisible  or  supernatural  world,  to  external, 
visible  nature,  to  the  tribe,  to  the  family,  and  to  himself.  Let 
us  try  to  follow  the  morality  of  the  black  man  in  these  different 
spheres. 

The  first  law  or  positive  custom  imposed  on  our  primitives 
— ]N'egrillos  and  Bantus — is  the  obligation  of  observing  certain 
religious  practices;  this  constitutes  their  worship  in  regard  to 
the  supernatural  world  that  they  feel  surrounds  them,  pene- 
trates them,  and  dominates  them :  the  world  of  manes,  tutelary 
spirits,  and  genii,  and  the  world  of  God. 

As  we  have  already  seen  and  as  we  shall  see  better  in  what 
follows,  this  cult  is  addressed  especially  to  the  manes  of  imme- 
diate relatives  or  to  one's  ancestors.  It  is  obligatory  in  the 
sense  that  if  any  one  should  refuse  to  perform  it  he  would  be 
dishonored  before  his  own  people,  any  misfortunes  that  befell 
him  would  be  attributed  to  his  negligence  or  impiety  and,  in 
certain  cases,  the  family  or  village  would  believe  it  their  duty 
to  institute  ceremonies  of  reparation. 

It  is  proportionately  the  same  with  duties  and  deference 
towards  the  tutelary  spirits  and  the  genii.  But  a  greater  lib- 
erty is  left  to  each  individual.  Except  in  cases  where  the 
family  or  tribal  interests  are  at  stake,  no  one  is  obliged  to  wear 
such  and  such  amulets,  to  participate  in  such  and  such  acts  of 
devotion,  to  honor  such  or  such  a  fetich. 

As  to  God,  he  remains,  so  to  speak,  beyond  the  world  acces- 
sible to  man.  He  is  not  absent;  his  presence,  on  the  contrary, 
dominates  everything  and  his  name  is  often  on  the  lips  of  the 
Black.  But,  save  in  certain  circumstances,  there  is  no  definite, 
public  worship  in  his  honor.  They  do  not  blaspheme  him,  or 
at  most  they  do  so  unwittingly.  ''What  evil  has  God  done  ?" 
was  the  question  used  as  a  form  of  salutation  by  a  visitor  in 
the  old  days  approaching  the  aged  King  Denis,  who  gave  the 
estuary   of  Gabon  to   France.     And  the  old   chief  replied: 


144  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

"Death."  Then,  you  wished  him  long  days.  Mgr.  Bessieux, 
the  founder  of  the  Catholic  mission,  shocked  by  these  terms, 
had  them  changed.  Thenceforth  the  royal  salutation  was: 
"What  good  has  God  done  V     "Life !" 

Although  religion  presents  itself  to  the  mind  of  the  Black 
as  an  obligation,  it  is  but  just  to  add  that  neither  god  nor  the 
guardian  spirits  nor  the  manes  are  considered  as  examples  of 
moral  perfection.  "Be  like  unto  God?"  he  would  say,  "What 
extravagance!"  "As  to  the  spirits  and  manes,  have  they  not 
the  same  passions  as  we  have  ourselves?  And  in  what  way 
does  our  perfection  concern  them?" 

The  savage  is  not  free  in  relation  to  the  invisible  world. 
ISTor  is  he  entirely  so  in  regard  to  external  nature,  because  in 
his  thought  it  does  not  belong  to  him  and,  in  order  to  live,  he 
feels  obliged  to  ask  permission  of  its  Master. 

We  must  now  refer  to  an  institution  that  is  at  the  basis  of 
all  primitive  societies  and  is  no  other  than  the  moral  law 
based  on  religious  faith.  We  speak  of  the  sacred  interdict 
or  taboo. 

The  taboo  is  a  Polynesian  word  of  the  Tongan  dialect :  ^^ 
it  is  composed  of  the  root  to,  (marked)  and  hu,  an  adverb  of 
intensity.  It  sig-nifies,  then,  especially  trmrked/^  and  applies 
to  all — persons,  animals,  places,  words,  acts,  etc. — that  has 
been  designated  by  competent  authority  as  sacred  and  forbidden 
under  pain  of  stain  or  sin.  All  infractions  will  cause  death, 
disease,  or  some  other  misfortune,  unless  the  guilty  one  has 
been  absolved  on  each  occasion  on  time  and  has  made  satisfac- 
tion by  an  appropriate  penance,  ordinarily  an  offering  or  a 
sacrifice. 

This  Maori  word  was  destined  to  have  a  great  career :  to-day 
it  is  current,  with  its  special  meaning,  in  all  European  lan- 
guages. But  it  has  its  equivalent  among  the  Greeks  (ayo^ 
and    ayios),   among   the   Latins    (sacer),    among   the   Malays 

"  In  the  Samoan  Islands,  the  Marquises,  the  Sonde  Islands,  New  Ireland, 
and  others,  they  say  tapu,  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  kapu,  the  letters  *  and 
ky  h  and  p  being  interchangeable. 

^^^Cf.  Frazer,  Golden  Bough;  L.  Marillier,  Grande  Encyolopedie  (taboo)  ; 
Reinach,  op.  cit. 


MOEALITY  145 

(pamali),  among  tiie  different  races  of  J^orth  America 
{wakan),  among  the  Mpongwes  of  Gabon  {Orunda),  among 
the  Fans  {Ehi),  among  the  Bantus  of  the  eastern  coast  {mwiho, 
mzio).  This  list  might  be  prolonged  indefinitely,  for  the  notion 
is  universal  and  everywhere  corresponds  to  the  same  idea. 
The  Swahili  mw-iho,  for  example,  comes  from  the  verb  eha  (to 
place,  to  put  aside,  to  reserve)  but  it  is  applied  only  to  what  is 
reserved  and  not  to  be  touched  in  consequence  of  a  religious 
interdict.  ^^ 

The  law  of  the  taboo  was  pointed  out  long  ago,  notably  by 
the  missionaries  of  Oceania,  while  those  of  North  America 
have  spoken  especially  of  the  law  of  the  totem.  Totem  and 
taboo  are  to-day  welcomed  by  a  number  of  anthropologists  who 
contend  that  these  laws  are  nothing  less  than  the  original 
source  of  all  religion,  morality,  and  civilization ! 

^Took  as  far  back  as  we  will  into  the  past,"  writes  Solomon 
Keinach,  '^man  submits  to  an  inner  or  subjective  restraint  as 
well  as  to  an  outer  or  objective  one.  E'ot  only  does  he  experience 
obstacles,  he  creates  them  for  himself,  in  the  shape  of  fears  and 
scruples.  In  the  course  of  time  these  fears  and  scruples  have 
taken  to  themselves  names — moral  law,  religious  law,  political 
law.  And  precisely  as  these  three  laws  exist  to-day  and  still 
exercise  their  restraining  influence  on  human  activity,  so  they 
existed — confused  and  undivided  as  yet — among  the  earliest  of 
savage  communities.  Morality,  religion,  and  politics,  as  we 
conceive  them,  had  not  so  much  as  dawned  on  the  primitive 
mind,  but  man  submitted  to  and  accepted  a  multitude  of 
restraints  which,  taken  as  a  whole,  constituted  what  is  called 
the  system  of  taboos.  The  general  formula  of  the  taboo  is :  ^Do 
not  do  this,  do  not  touch  that.'  It  is  the  English  dont,  as 
applied  to  children.  The  taboo,  whatever  form  it  may  take, 
has  always  the  one  characteristic,  that  it  sets  a  bound  to  human 
activity.  This  path  is  taboo,  do  not  walk  there.  This  fruit  is 
taboo,  do  not  eat  it.  This  field  is  taboo  on  such  a  day,  do  not 
work  there.  Thus,  unlike  civil,  religious,  or  moral  law,  the  law 
of  taboo  never  implies  action,  but  always  abstention:  it  is  a 
curb,  not  a  whip.'' 

"This  recalls  what  Voltaire  wrote  of  the  Poemes  saores  of  J.  B.  Rous- 
seau: "Sacres  ils  sont,  car  personne  n'y  touche!" 


146  THE  EELTGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Reinacli  continues: 

"Man  is  preeminently  a  social  animal;  at  every  stage  of 
civilization  he  pictures  the  external  world  as  an  integral  part 
of  the  same  community  as  himself,  and  by  a  natural  general- 
ization concludes  that  the  spiritual  principle,  which  he  feels 
to  be  working  within  him,  must  be  working  also  in  the  infinite 
phenomena  without  him.  Before  he  rises  to  a  definite  and  con- 
sistent idea  of  godhead,  he  feels  himself  surrounded  by  gods, 
fears  them  and  strives  to  live  at  peace  with  them. 

"The  general  cause  of  taboos,  then,  is  the  fear  of  dan- 
ger. .  .  .  Are  we  not  to  this  day  everlastingly  tempted  to 
confuse  temporal  sequence  with  causal  connection?  Post 
lioCy  ergo  'propter  hoc — B  follows  A,  therefore  A  is  the  cause 
of  B — the  fallacy  is  daily  committed  by  education  and  illiter- 
acy alike. 

"The  savage,  lacking  the  notion  of  cause  and  effect  but  en- 
dowed with  a  memory,  was  certain  to  assign  a  given  misadven- 
ture to  some  immediately  preceding  event,  though  nine  times 
out  of  ten  the  two  would  be  unconnected.  Thus,  in  primitive 
communities,  there  grew  up  a  vast  oral  tradition  of  leading 
cases :  such  or  such  an  act  has  such  or  such  a  fatal  consequence — 
on  such  or  such  a  day  I  fell  and  hurt  myself  because,  when  I 
went  out  in  the  morning,  I  saw  a  snake.  If  all  these  hasty 
generalizations  had  taken  root  in  any  one  community,  fear 
would  have  suspended  all  action,  and  the  community  would 
have  perished.  But  here,  as  in  all  things,  selection  played  a 
part.  The  fears  experienced  by  the  tribal  magnates — old  men, 
chiefs,  and  priests — were  shared  by  the  rank  and  file,  and  gave 
rise  to  various  scruples  all  more  or  less  widely  diffused:  the 
rest  were  forgotten.  Thus  the  taboos  came  into  being.  .  .  . 
The  taboos  correspond  to  fears,  and  the  fears,  in  their  turn, 
to  rash  generalizations  from  isolated  facts.''  ^* 

Did  humanity  stop  there?  Happily  no.  According  to 
Reinach,  it  is  due  to  religion  that  humanity  did  not  remain 
imprisoned  in  the  countless  meshes  of  these  taboos. 

"Religion,  organized  in  hierarchical  form,  was  the  first  eman- 
cipator of  man ;  it  formed  into  codes  such  of  these  prescriptions 
and  prohibitions  as  were  given  credit  by  infinitely  varied  super- 
stitions." 

"  Eeinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  36. 


MORALITY  147 

Finally,  by  a  fatal  evolution,  humanity  necessarily  tends 
to  recognize  and  must  preserve  the  laws  that  have  a  social 
utility;  it  must  also  free  itself  from  religious  laws,  letting 
these  fall  into  disuse  little  by  little.  Thus  does  morality  get 
reduced  to  a  good  civil  code.  "All  the  rest  is  literature,"  or,  as 
Reinach  says,  "scruples  and  prejudices." 

In  these  theories — and  their  simple  statement  ill  conceals 
the  practical  import  of  what  is  called,  in  the  language  of  the 
day,  "integral  laicisation" — there  is  something  to  take  and 
much  to  leave. 

Has  this  system  of  taboos,  prohibitions,  or  interdicts  really    \ 
the  importance  here  given  it?     Do  we  find  therein  the  initial 
germ  of  all  the  morality  which  has  spread  so  widely  over  the 
world  ? 

The  reply  to  this  question  depends  largely  on  the  explana- 
tion we  give  of  the  taboo,  the  reason  for  its  existence,  what  we 
will  call  its  philosophy.  This  answer  is  contained  in  the  con- 
ception, as  we  have  already  described  it,  which  the  primitive 
forms  of  nature. 

This  fundamental  conception,  ever  living  and  inspiring  so 
many  of  primitive  man's  other  thoughts,  is  that  man  in  this 
world  is  not  completely  at  home.  He  finds  himself  placed 
here  without  quite  knowing  how,  why,  or  by  whom;  he  walks 
in  a  domain  that  seems  to  him  open  and  free,  and  meets  many  • 
things  he  desires.  But  he  did  not  make  it,  he  is  not  the 
proprietor  and  it  would  be  wrong  for  him  to  use  it  as  though 
he  were.  May  it  not  be  that  all  that  nature  thus  offers  him  is 
a  sort  of  bait  placed  within  reach  of  his  hand  the  more  to 
tempt  him? 

Who  knows  ?  Here,  for  example,  is  a  tree  covered  with  fruit. 
He  tries  one,  finds  it  good,  eats  it,  and  encouraged  by  the  ex- 
perience, he  takes  others:  it  is  a  permitted  fruit.  The  day 
after,  he  perceives  another  tree;  made  confident  by  the  repast 
of  the  preceding  day,  he  takes  some ;  but  this  fruit  has  not  the 
same  taste  and  makes  him  wretchedly  sick;  it  was  evidently  a 
forbidden  fruit.  He  will  remember  and,  to  save  his  children ' 
from  the  same  experience,  perhaps  the  same  misfortune  in 
relation  to  the  hidden  Master  of  creation,  he  will  interdict  that 


148  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

tree  for  ttem :  "My  children,  that  fruit  is  a  forbidden  fruit  for 
us;  do  not  touch  it!'^ 

This  feeling,  vague  though  it  may  be,  is  always  keen  and 
persistent  in  the  mind  of  the  primitive.  While  traveling  one 
day  in  eastern  Africa  along  with  a  European  explorer  who 
wished  to  become  initiated  in  the  things  and  people  of  the 
country,  I  arrived  in  the  evening  at  an  encampment  where 
they  pointed  out  many  wild  boars  to  us.  My  companion  soon 
killed  one.  As  our  porters,  true  savages  from  the  distant 
interior,  refused  to  eat  any  of  it  because  this  meat  was  inter- 
dicted (miviko)  for  them,  he  devoured  an  enormous  slice  by 
way  of  protest :  what  excruciating  indigestion  during  the  night ! 
As  my  unfortunate  companion,  groaning,  pressing  his  stomach, 
and  making  lamentable  efforts  to  free  himself,  had  awakened 
our  men,  they  found  nothing  better  to  do  than  organize  a 
circle  about  him,  singing : 


It's  the  pig,  it's  the  pig, 
It's  the  pig  that  revolts ! 


Then  came  the  solo : 

O  pig! 

Come  out  if  you  wish. 

But  do  no  evil  to  our  white  man, 

For  he  ate  you  by  mistake ! 

Finally  the  pig  came  out  and  this  novice  learned  the  true 
meaning  of  taboo  that  night. 

But  let  us  return  to  philosophy.  The  Master  of  things, 
when  he  conceals  himself  from  the  eyes  of  men,  is  only  the 
more  to  be  feared ;  by  unexpected  manifestations  he  frequently 
reveals  himself  and  checks  our  immoderate  desire  to  put  hands 
on  everything.  Whence,  not  to  speak  of  the  indigestion  by 
which  forbidden  food  protests  and  comes  forth,  there  are  poison- 
ings, diseases,  deaths,  epidemics,  accidents,  floods,  droughts, 
etc.,  etc.  For  if  the  machinery  of  the  world  has  gotten  out 
of  order,  it  is  because,  consciously  or  inadvertently,  we  have 
thrown  handfuls  of  sand  into  the  works,  i.e.,  forbidden  acts. 
In  other  words,  if  the  universe  appears  stretched  out  before 


IViUXiilUi  J.  1 


man  like  a  well-laden  table,  there  are,  nevertheless,  certain 
precautions  to  take  before  sitting  down  at  it,  certain  forms  of 
politeness  to  be  observed,  certain  restrictions  to  bear  in  mind. 

For  safety,  then,  it  is  necessary  '^to  know."  And  who  will 
know,  if  not  the  ''seer,"  the  man  in  relation  with  the  invisible, 
the  priest  who  is  at  the  same  time,  in  primitive  societies,  the 
leader,  the  patriarch,  the  head  of  the  family,  of  the  clan,  or 
of  the  tribe  ? 

He  it  is  who  has  been  enlightened  by  a  dream,  forewarned 
by  some  inner  or  external  notice,  instructed  by  some  experi- 
ence, perhaps  a  painfiil  one ;  it  is  for  him  to  tell  his  followers 
what  is  proper  and  what  is  not,  what  is  forbidden,  what  must 
not  be  eaten,  what  must  not  be  touched,  what  must  not  be 
looked  at,  what  must  not  be  pronounced,  what  must  not  be 
done. 

Once  the  interdict  has  been  thus  solemnly  pronounced  by 
the  religious  authority  in  the  name  of  the  higher  Power  whose 
will  must  be  respected,  absolute  obedience  is  imposed  under 
pain  of  compromising  the  whole  community.  In  our  judgment, 
such  is  the  initial  principle  of  the  law  of  the  taboo. 

This  principle  has  a  double  function.  On  one  hand  it  sep- 
arates the  sacred  from  the  profane  and  provides  a  place  apart 
for  whatever,  in  our  external  and  visible  world,  is  related 
to  the  supernatural  world  by  appointment,  service,  and 
special  consecration.  Sacred  persons,  objects,  places,  cere- 
monies, all  these  must  be  kept  apart  in  the  use  men  make  of 
them  and  must  not  be  confused  with  the  rest,  with  what  each 
one  may  touch  at  will:  for  they  have  all  felt  the  influence  of 
the  invisible  world,  are  attributed  to  it,  have  become  its  prop- 
erty, have  been  consecrated  to  it.  'No  one  may  henceforth  lay 
hands  on  them  except  those  who  in  fact  or  by  identical  conse- 
cration belong  to  that  same  world.  In  this  sense  we  may  say 
that  the  taboo  is  at  the  basis  of  religious  worship. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  at  the  basis  of  law,  consequently 
of  morality,  and  hence  of  civilization — all  placed  under  the 
protection  of  the  religious  authority  which  designates,  sanc- 
tions, and  consecrates  whatever  it  touches.     By  its  religious 


150  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

character,  tlie  taboo  is  imposed  as  absolute  and  indisputable, 
and  it  implies  immediate  and  severe  penalties  in  case  of 
violation.  Thus  it  is  particularly  well  suited  to  primitive 
society  and  organizes,  disciplines,  elevates,  and  restrains  the 
too  ardent  inclinations  of  that  society. 

This  explains  why  the  English  school  of  W.  Eobertson  Smith, 
echoed  by  Reinach  in  France,  has  justly  placed  religion  along 
with  the  institution  of  the  taboo  at  the  base  of  morality,  law, 
and  human  civilization.  "Religion  has  been  the  nurse  and 
educator  of  humanity."  ^^ 

But  it  is  an  error  to  see  in  the  taboo,  along  with  the  totem, 

v^    the   initial   and   generating   principle   of   religion   itself   and, 

^^  ;     through  religion,   of  morality.      In  fact,  since  the  taboo,   in 

/  I     order  to  be  respected,  must  rest  on  an  authority  of  the  invisible 

world,  which  is  God  or  some  spirit,  this  conception  of  the 

supernatural  must  necessarily  be  anterior  to  the  taboo. 

We  have  the  profane  world,  the  world  of  all  those  things 
that  can  be  used  without  preoccupation  or  ceremony;  above 
is  the  supernatural  world,  accessible  to  us  only  by  a  sort  of 
mystical  ladder  represented  by  religious  ceremonies;  between 
the  two,  the  sacred  or  taboo  world  which  clings  to  both  and 
consequently  supposes  both.  This  seems  to  be  the  primitive 
conception.    Faith  Has  preceded  law. 

Moreover,  if  we  can  assign  the  respect  due  to  the  sovereign 
Master  of  the  world,  the  fear  of  nature  and  of  the  spirits  that 
animate  it,  as  original  and  general  causes  of  the  taboo,  this 
religious  feeling  must  necessarily  coexist  with  a  moral  senti- 
ment. In  fact,  if  I  feel  that  I  ought  not  to  touch  such  or  such 
a  product  because  the  invisible  world  seems  to  have  reserved 
it  for  itself,  this  implies  that  I  have  at  the  same  time  a  con- 
scious conviction  that  it  is  unjust  and  evil  to  lay  hands  on 
what  does  not  belong  to  me.  To  observe  the  interdict  will, 
then,  be  good,  to  violate  it  will  be  evil,  that  is,  a  sin  creating 
a  stain  and  demerit  that  can  be  removed  only  by  condonation 
or  pardon. 

We  will  make  another  statement,  which  our  ardent  evolu- 
tionists can  not  reject.     Animals  as  well  as  men  find  them- 

"  Reinach,  op.  oi*.  ._  - 


MORALITY  l^i 

selves  in  tlie  presence  of  the  products  of  nature ;  they  have  felt 
the  same  evil  consequences  from  the  indiscriminate  use  of 
everything,  they  have  noticed  the  same  dangers  and  have  con- 
sequently experienced  the  same  fears.  Yet  they  have  imposed 
no  tahoos  on  themselves.  -Why?  Simply  because  the  idea  has 
not  visited  them  that  certain  products  might  be  reserved  by  an 
invisible  world,  that  hence  it  would  be  unjust  to  touch  them, 
and  that,  in  case  of  violation,  the  injustice,  the  fault,  or  the  sin 
would  call  for  punishment. 

The  conclusion  is  always  the  same :  the  principle  of  the  law 
or  interdict,  which  supposes  the  religious  notion,  supposes  also 
the  moral  notion,  supposes  conscience. 

Once  the  principle  of  the  taboo  was  admitted,  it  was  too 
fruitful  not  to  be  utilized  by  all  those  who  could  profit  from 
it.  At  first  an  instrument  of  religious  moralization,  the^  inter- 
dict soon  became  a  means  of  government,  a  prescription  of 
hygiene,  a  medical  regulation,  a  source  of  revenue,  a  pretext 
for  the  exercise  of  real  tyranny,  and  a  nest  of  unreasonable, 
unjust,  and  oppressive  superstitions. 

Therefore  it  frequently  happens  that  the  use  of  meat  is 
forbidden  to  women  and  children:  what  is  good  and  particu- 
larly desirable  is  reserved  for  the  men,  or  for  such  and  such 
a  class  of  men.  The  members  of  the  secret  societies,  for  in- 
stance, enjoy  numerous  privileges  that  are  absolutely  forbidden 
to  the  profane. 

Along  the  Ogowe  Kiver  (in  Gabon),  before  the  Europeans 
had  established  freedom  of  navigation,  the  chieftains  on  its 
banks  opened  or  closed  the  river  ad  libitum  by  imposing  or 
removing  the  interdict.  When  the  river  was  closed,  it  was 
impossible  for  any  canoe  to  set  out:  the  Ogowe  was  orunda  and 
no  native  would  have  ventured  on  it  for  anything  in  the  world. 
But  the  interdict  could  be  raised :  it  was  simply  necessary  to 

pay  the  price.  t     n  a  ^ 

In  certain  tribes  no  one  may  see  the  chief  eat.  In  Oudoe 
(Zanguebar)  the  country  is  ruled  by  three  chiefs  who  delib- 
erate together  on  what  decisions  to  take,  but  no  one  of  them 
may  look  at  the  other  without  putting  his  life  in  jeopardy: 


152  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

so  they  meet  in  a  hut  with  three  separate  compartments  and 
thus  govern  their  states. 

But  the  really  interesting  tahoos,  interesting  because  they 
are  moral  and  moralizing,  are  those  which  apply  to  the  family, 
through  the  family  to  the  tribe,  and  hence  to  society. 

It  is  indeed  a  remarkable  fact  and  quite  in  conformity  with 
what  we  have  already  established,  that  numerous  moral  pre- 
scriptions— in  the  sense  in  which  we  understand  the  morality 
of  the  primitives — operate  to  draw  all  the  members  of  the 
family  close  together,  fathers,  mothers,  children,  from  the  crib 
to  the  grave,  for  the  evident  purpose  of  organizing  the  family, 
maintaining  it,  strengthening  it,  purifying  it,  preserving  there- 
in its  blood,  traditions,  spirit,  unity,  and  alliances,  warding  off 
all  sorts  of  dangers  that  might  threaten  it,  and  procuring  for 
the  family  the  protection  or  at  least  the  neutrality  of  the  ances- 
tral manes  which  have  left  it  to  enter  the  world  beyond. 

The  animal,  confined  by  an  instinct  of  conservation  that  does 
not  permit  it  to  abuse  a  moral  liberty  to  which  it  is  a  total 
stranger,  has  no  need  of  these  laws  in  order  to  reproduce  itself 
and  perpetuate  its  species:  its  amorality  never  becomes  im- 
morality. 

It  is  not  so  with  man.  Because  he  is  free,  able  to  use  and 
to  abuse,  capable  of  good  and  evil,  he  does  need  to  be  guided, 
restrained,  w^atched  over,  and,  in  case  of  need,  punished.  If 
left  entirely  to  himself,  without  any  check,  without  any  re- 
ligion, without  any  law,  it  would  have  required  no  other  means 
for  his  destruction  than  his  own  inclinations.  In  all  primitive 
societies  that  we  have  studied,  we  find  the  family  is  the  essential 
organ  of  social  life,  the  guarantee  against  the  most  ordinaiy 
causes  of  perversion  and  dispersion. 

The  infant  Black,  even  before  its  birth,  is  protected  by 
various  taboos  that  affect  its  mother  and  even  its  father.  From 
its  conception  until  its  weaning,  these  latter  may  have  no 
sexual  relations.  In  many  places  certain  foods  are  forbidden 
them,  they  must  not  touch  a  corpse,  they  will  not  even  be  pres- 
ent at  the  obsequies  of  their  relatives,  they  will  not  eat  (terrible 
privation ! )  any  animal  that  has  burst  open.    The  little  creature 


MOEALITY  153 

whose  life  is  still  embryonic  would  suffer  f rora  tliat  contact  with 
death,  and  its  parents  are  responsible  before  the  family. 

After  the  infant  comes  into  the  world,  it  is  necessary  to 
see  at  once  whether  it  is  "interdicted" ;  there  are  tribes  where 
infants  often  are.  They  are  ''interdicted,"  for  example,  if  they 
are  twins,  if  they  are  deformed,  if  they  have  made  their  mother 
suffer,  if  they  have  teeth  at  their  birth,  if  the  teeth  of  the  upper 
jaw  appear  before  the  others,  and  so  forth.  In  such  case  their 
lot  is  quickly  determined:  an  aged  sorceress,  filling  the  office 
of  midwife,  strangles  the  unfortunate  little  being  under  her 
arm  by  twisting  its  neck;  then  the  body  is  enclosed  in  an 
earthen  vessel  and,  thus  shrouded,  is  thrown  into  the  neigh- 
boring forest  where,  in  the  space  of  a  single  night,  bands  of 
voracious  ants  remove  its  every  trace.  ^^ 

If  allowed  to  live,  the  infant  recognized  as  "good"  continues 
until  the  age  of  two  years  to  form  one  body,  so  to  speak,  with 
its  mother  like  the  young  of  the  opossum.  Perched  on  her 
back,  astride  her  hip,  or  enclosed  in  a  bag  made  of  antelope's 
skin,  it  eats,  sleeps,  smiles,  cries,  and  thus  undergoes  the 
apprenticeship  of  life. 

Finally  it  takes  to  the  ground,  first  on  all  fours,  soon  after 
on  two  feet.  It  grows  fast  and  little  by  little,  with  extraordi- 
nary precocity  and  good  humor,  goes  to  work.  The  parents 
have  great  love  for  their  children  although  they  appear  to 
take  very  little  care  of  them  and  to  be  only  vaguely  concerned 
about  their  moral  education.  On  the  other  hand,  they  watch 
carefully  to  see  that  the  taboos  imposed  on  the  children  are 
not  infringed,  such  as  eating  certain  food.  Those  who  show 
vicious  tendencies  are  punished,  at  times  severely. 

Generally  a  name  is  not  given  to  the  child  until  he  is  old 
enough  to  answer  it  himself.  This  name  is  taken  from  cir- 
cumstances or  depends  upon  the  whims  of  the  mother,  father, 
or  some  relative.     Names  of  animals  are  frequent. 

Age  is  not  counted  by  years  but  by  the  size,  which  is  often 
indicated  with  the  hand,  the  palm  held  vertically  for  men  and 
horizontally  for  animals. 

"Not  long  ago  this  practice  was  still  widespread  in  the  Zigua  country 
( Zanguebar ) . 


154  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

The  age  of  puberty  comes.  Until  tlien  the  child  had,  we 
may  say,  counted  for  nothing,  he  lived  as  he  liked  and  was 
neither  man  nor  woman.  'Now  the  time  has  come  for  him  to 
be  ranked  in  one  of  these  two  categories  of  the  human  species 
and  definitely  attached  to  his  family,  clan,  and  tribe.  He  pos- 
sesses the  qualities  needful  for  forming  a  new  social  nucleus 
by  founding  a  new  home.    This  is  the  object  of  the  initiation.^'' 

The  initiation,  to  which  both  sexes  are  subjected,  varies  in 
its  ceremonial  from  tribe  to  tribe.  But  it  is  to  be  found  every- 
where, at  least  in  a  state  of  partial  survival,  here  of  a  simple 
nature,  there  more  complicated,  symbolic,  and  solemn. 

E^aturally  there  is  a  difference  between  the  initiation  of 
the  boys  and  that  of  the  girls.  But  in  either  case  the  initiation 
does  not  take  place  until  there  is  a  certain  number  of  eligible 
young  people  of  the  same  village  or  neighboring  villages. 
When  the  day  arrives,  the  boys  between  fifteen  and  eighteen 
or  twenty  years  of  age  are  assembled  under  the  direction  of  a 
specialist.  Dressed  in  special  costume,  they  are  subjected  to 
various  ordeals  which  they  must  manfully  endure.  It  is  a 
sort  of  retreat  that  they  make,  living,  eating,  sleeping  apart, 
generally  in  a  near-by  forest.  They  devote  themselves  to 
various  exercises,  repeat  certain  songs  and  dances,  are  mys- 
teriously instructed  in  what  is  permitted  or  forbidden,  receive 
new  taboos,  and  become  acquainted  with  the  traditions  and  in- 
terests of  the  tribe.  This  is  also  the  occasion  for  renewing  the 
alliance  with  the  totem  by  symbolic  ceremonies,  a  sacrifice  and 
a  communion.  The  whole  initiation  lasts  several  days,  often 
several  weeks  or  months.  Their  black  skin  is  entirely  or  partly 
covered  by  a  white  paint  made  of  a  chalk  mixture  or  flour ;  this 
is  the  color  of  the  spirits. ^^  The  ornaments  of  their  costume  are 
often  very  complicated.  Dances  follow  one  another.  Often  a 
new  name  is  given  ijjijs  a  second  birth.     Then  the  candidates 

"Tliis  family  initiation  is  not  to  be  confused  with  that  which  preceded 
entrance  into  a  secret  society,  properly  so  called.  Cf.  E.  de  Jonghe,  Les 
societes  secretes  au  Bas-Congo. 

"The  spirits  are  white.  With  this  white  paint  the  people  often  mix 
some  ashes  from  their  ancestors'  bones  which  thus  "sanctify"  it  and  put 
the  new  members  of  the  family  into  relation  with  the  manes  of  their 
relatives. 


MORALITY  155 

receive  the  distinctive  marks  of  the  tribe,  file  their  teeth  accord- 
ing to  special  requirements,  are  tattooed  according  to  rule,  and 
are  relieved  of  the  various  taboos  of  childhood.  Generally  the 
whole  ceremony  is  terminated  by  a  great  feast,  including  a 
solemn  procession,  dinner,  dances,  and  presents,  not  to  speak 
of  the  drinking  which  must  be  provided  with  particular  care. 

Ordinarily  it  is  in  the  course  of  this  initiaton  that  the  cere- 
mony of  circumcision  takes  place  wherever  the  custom  exists. 
Though  this  practice  is  actively  kept  up  among  many  Bantu 
tribes,  in  many  others  it  is  not,  either  because  it  has  never  be- 
come known  among  them  or  because  it  has  been  abandoned  after 
long  wars  or  extensive  journeys,  or  for  some  other  reason.^^  The 
NegTillos  do  not  practice  it.  In  some  places  where  the  primi- 
tive sense  of  the  ceremony  has  evidently  been  forgotten,  chil- 
dren undergo  it  at  an  earlier  age,  about  ten  years  old  or  seven, 
and  even  at  two  years  of  age,  in  order  to  make  it  easier  and 
less  painful.  But  by  ordinary  rule  it  coincides  with  the  period 
of  puberty  and  the  initiation  that  accompanies  it. 

What  is  the  reason  for  it? 

"It  is  impossible  to  give  the  reason,"  says  a  colonial  phy- 
sician, making  allusion  to  explanations  often  assigned,  ''other 
than  religious  necessity.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate  any 
anatomical  point  of  view ;  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  passions 
it  has  very  little  influence  on  the  temperament;  and  from  the 
hygienic  point  of  view  it  is  insufiicient."  -^ 

Our  own  judgment  is  that  circumcision  is  related  to  the 
institution  of  the  taboo:  ordinarily  it  is  the  removal  of  a  pro- 
hibition. Before  passing  through  this  ceremony,  a  young  man 
may  not  marry;  he  is  not  received  by  any  woman,  and  has  no 
right  to  marriage  relations.  If,  nevertheless,  this  happens — 
and  it  does  happen! — the  child  that  is  born  of  this  forbidden 

^This  is  what  has  happened  among  the  Zulus  and,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  Jimod,  among  the  Ba-ronga  in  1820.  Other  tribes  are  men- 
tioned where  this  practice  has  been  introduced  or  reintroduced.  There  is 
evidently  no  question  of  Mohammedan  populations  nor  of  Islamized  popu- 
lations, among  whom  circumcision  is  an  obligatory  religious  rite. 

^"DSpeche  Coloniale,  Sept.  3,  1907. 


156  THE  RELIGIO:Nr  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

union  is  considered  ^^bad/'  and  must  disappear.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  girls  who  become  mothers  before  passing  through  the 
initiation  that  concerns  them.  In  some  places  this  accident  is 
regarded  as  a  public  misfortune  and  must  be  expiated  by  a 
great  sacrifice  offered  to  God.^^  Therein  we  have  an  interesting 
and  typical  illustration  of  our  principle  established  above.  The 
transmission  of  human  life  takes  place  in  a  mysterious  realm 
where  the  action  of  the  sovereign  Master  of  creation  is  mani- 
fested or  at  least  suspected,  and  where  man  can  be  admitted 
only  with  a  sort  of  authorization  from  him,  obtained  by  means 
of  an  appropriate  ceremony.  At  the  appointed  time  the  inter- 
dict can  be  removed  but,  as  in  all  like  cases,  the  "permission 
to  use"  must  be  acquired  by  a  sacrifice,  with  effusion  of  blood : 
hence  the  circumcision,  whose  moral  purpose  is  evident,  since 
the  taboo  or  interdict  which  it  removes  rigorously  forbids  the 
sexual  relations  between  children  who  have  not  arrived  at  the 
age  of  puberty. 

We  understand  also  that  this  institution,  which  is  known 
throughout  Africa,  is  likewise  met  with  in  Oceania  and  even 
in  America,  among  the  Polynesians,  Australians,  and  many 
of  the  redskins.  For  it  to  become  thus  widespread,  there  must 
be  some  general  reason  for  its  existence.  This  general  reason 
is  no  other  than  the  sacred  interdict  carried  out  in  the  moral 
interest  of  the  family  and  removed,  when  necessary,  in  the 
same  interest. ^^ 

The  girls  undergo  a  similar  ceremony,  which  changes  accord- 
ing to  the  place.  R.  E.  Dennett  thus  describes  it  as  existing 
in  Congo: 

"A  small  hut  or  shed  is  built  outside  the  town  for  the  girl. 
The  hair  of  her  head  is  shaved  off  and  her  whole  body  is  covered 
with  takula,  or  powdered  red  wood  mixed  with  water.  Thus 
painted,  the  maiden  retires  with  friends  of  hers  who  have  already 
gone  through  the  ceremony  to  the  little  hut.  Here  she  is  pre- 
sented with  a  fowl,  or  if  the  family  cannot  afford  this,  an  egg. 

"This  is  the  case  in  Loango.     See  Dennett,  op.  cit.,  pp.  67-70. 

"At  one  time  it  used  to  be  held  that  the  practice  of  circumcision  orig- 
inated with  the  Hebrews.  In  this,  as  in  many  other  matters,  they  made 
the  Bible  say  what  it  does  not  say. 


MORALITY  157 

The  maiden  rests  here  for  six  days  while  her  companions  watch 
and  amuse  and  feed  her  during  the  day,  serving  her  as  if  she 
were  a  princess,  and  at  night  singing  and  dancing  to  the  music 
of  the  misunga  (the  gTeat  dried  pod  of  the  Baobab  tree). 

^^In  the  meantime  a  nice  shinbec  or  hut  is  built  for  her  in 
town,  wherein  two  beds  are  placed.  Upon  one  of  these,  accom- 
panied by  two  of  her  older  friends,  the  maiden  sleeps,  while 
the  other  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  her  other  and  younger 
friends.  Each  day  she  twice  submits  to  the  painting  process, 
and  for  four  or  five  months  is  not  permitted  to  w^ork  in  any  way. 

''When  the  time  comes  for  her  to  be  handed  over  to  her  hus- 
band, one  of  his  relations  proceeds  to  this  shinbec  at  the  break 
of  day,  and  pulls  her  bed  out  of  the  hut  by  one  of  its  legs. 
If  she  is  not  yet  engaged  to  be  married,  then  it  is  her  father 
who  pulls  the  bed  out  into  the  open.  Then  all  the  women  of 
the  maiden's  family,  carrying  umbrellas  and  clean  clothes  and 
ornaments  for  her,  take  her  down  to  the  salt  water,  and  beat 
the  paint  off  her  with  pliant  twigs;  then  they  proceed  to  the 
nearest  fresh  water  stream  and  wash  and  dress.  The  maiden's 
legs  are  loaded  with  great  brass  rings,  her  arms  with  smaller 
ones,  while  her  neck  and  waist  are  hung  with  all  the  family's 
coral,  across  her  breast  a  colored  handkerchief  is  hung,  and  the 
general  color  of  the  cloth  or  skirt  hanging  to  her  waist  is  red; 
an  umbrella  completes  her  outfit.  Then  a  procession  is  formed, 
and  all  her  friends,  twirling  their  umbrellas,  sing  and  march 
through  the  town  or  towns  on  their  way  home  again.  All  along 
the  route  the  young  men  in  the  towns  come  out  and  dance  before 
her,  presenting  her  with  some  small  offering.  Then  she  is  taken 
to  her  husband,  and  dancing  is  kej)t  up  during  the  night."  ^^ 

After  the  initiation  is  over,  it  is  really  a  new  life  that  begins 
for  the  young  man  and  woman.  They  can  now  think  of  mar- 
riage and  mingle  in  what  concerns  their  sex,  in  family  affairs, 
and  in  the  affairs  of  the  village  and  tribe.  The  young  woman 
does  not  have  to  wait  long  for  a  purchaser.  But  the  young 
man  must  often  wait  a  long  while  before  he  is  regularly  mar- 
ried, obliged  as  he  is  to  gather  the  necessary  dowry  for  the 
''purchase"  of  his  wife.  This  dowry  is  often  relatively  high 
and  while  he  is  seeking  it,  the  available  young  women  are 
monopolized  by  the  older,  richer,  and  more  influential.     That 

''Dennett,  op.  cit.,  p.  69. 


158  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

is  one  of  the  great  social  inconveniences  of  polygamy,  which 
practically  amounts  to  injustice  and  tyranny  and  becomes  a 
cause  of  immorality  and  depopulation. 

The  Blacks  are  aware  of  this  evil  consequence,  hut  as  the 
passions  and  interests  of  the  seniors  predominate,  the  practice 
continues. 

As  to  the  young  people,  since  the  initiation  has  removed  the 
interdict,  they  are  allowed  whatever  relations  they  wish,  pro- 
vided they  do  not  have  any  children. 

Marriage  is  also  surrounded  by  different  ceremonies  and 
numerous  prohibitions.  In  the  first  place  it  can  not  take  place 
between  relatives  nor  generally  between  persons  of  the  same 
village.  Among  these  people  the  prohibitions  on  marriage  be- 
tween relatives  are  far  more  extensive  and  more  strictly  kept 
than  with  us.^^ 

Incestuous  relations  between  brothers,  sisters,  and  in  general 
all  relatives  are  also  forbidden. 

Conjugal  relations  during  pregnancy  and  the  period  of 
nursing,  during  the  hunting  time,  during  war,  and  at  certain 
other  periods,  are  likewise  forbidden. 

Adultery  is  forbidden. 

Although  marriage  is  generally  unstable,  yet  it  exists  by 
virtue  of  a  real  contract  of  purchase  and  sale.  For  the  con- 
tract to  be  definitely  concluded,  however,  the  dowry  must  be 
completely  paid.  But  as  this  full  payment,  in  western  Africa, 
is  often  delayed  for  years  after  the  delivery  of  the  woman, 
she  is  at  times  tempted  to  return  to  her  family,  her  family  is 
also  tempted  to  recall  her.  This  is  the  cause  of  incessant  and 
interminable  conferences  from  which  arise  vindictive  lawsuits, 
adjustments^  insults,  blows,  vengeance,  bewitchings,  bitterness, 
hatred,  which  greatly  complicate  the  existence  of  this  man  of 
pure,  free  nature,  whom  Bousseau  once  proposed  to  us  for  our 
model. 

There  are  also  recognized  causes  for  divorce,  implying  the 
return  of  the  dowry :  for  example,  on  the  woman's  side,  wicked- 
ness and  incorrigible  habitual  laziness,   suspicions  of  magic, 

**It  is  useless  to  repeat  what  we  have  already  said  about  exogamy  and 
totemism. 


MOEALITY  159 

often  adultery;  on  the  man's  side,  an  insult  to  the  motlier- 
in-law. 

The  woman  who  returns  to  her  family  usually  takes  her 
children  with  her :  partus  sequitur  ventrem. 

Other  prescriptions  enforced  in  the  name  of  religion  and 
moral  duty  govern  the  family  relations,  the  obligations  of 
children,  of  the  wife  and  mother,  of  the  husband,  the  father, 
and  the  head  of  the  house. 

Death  comes.  According  to  age,  sex,  and  condition,  the 
funeral  is  carefully  regulated  and  surrounded  with  countless 
prohibitions.  In  short,  life,  death,  and  survival  after  death,  are 
full  of  prohibitions. 

Other  customs,  of  the  same  character,  preside  over  the  or- 
ganization, life,  and  defense  of  the  village  and  tribe,  which 
are  the  extension  of  the  family.  These  prescriptions  are  pub- 
lished on  occasion  of  public  works,  a  feast,  mourning,  a  cere- 
mony, a  new  installation,  an  emigration,  a  clearing,  a  great 
hunt,  a  public  misfortune  to  be  conjured,  an  epidemic  to  be 
dispelled,  a  crime  to  be  expiated,  an  invasion,  a  war,  or  some 
such  occasion.  Their  character  is  permanent  or  transitory  ac- 
cording as  they  proceed  from  the  ancestors  and  have  been 
transmitted  as  customs,  or  have  been  enacted  as  temporary 
measures  by  the  chiefs  or  by  sorcerers  or  especially  by  the 
executive  committees  of  the  local  secret  societies. 

In  addition  to  faults,  offenses,  or  crimes  condemned  by 
justice  as  inflicting  a  real  injury  on  another,  such  as  abusive 
language,  insult,  calumny,  theft,  violent  attacks,  poisoning,  be- 
witching, homicide,  which  eyery where  in  the  black  country  are 
regarded  as  forbidden  and  punishable ;  in  addition  to  proscrip- 
tions and  prohibitions  enacted  by  civil  and  religious  authori- 
ties relating  to  the  family  and  society  in  general,  is  there  any 
recognition  of  "sins,"  in  which  one  commits  evil  only  against 
himself  ? 

Is  it  judged,  for  instance,  a  moral  fault  to  be  wanting  in 
temperance,  to  be  slothful,. jealous,  proud,  to  be  a  liar,  to  give 
way  to  anger,  avarice,  luxury? 

This  question  is  difficult  to  answer  with  precision.    In  fact, 


160  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

we  can  scarcely  detect  that  the  primitive  cares  either  little  or 
much  for  his  moral  perfection.  He  is  what  he  is  and  remains 
so,  although  he  avoids  the  discredit  of  faults  that  are  too  un- 
pleasant or  shocking,  that  would  bring  reproach,  alienate  him 
from  his  friends  and  their  gatherings,  that  would  create  a 
difficult  situation  among  his  relatives.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
all  these  faults  or  habits  are  infamous,  and  individual  con- 
science in  the  depth  of  these  dense  natures  certainly  does  awake 
at  times  to  condemn  them. 

Sometimes  a  lack  of  moral  sense  is  met  with  that  quite  dis- 
concerts us:  it  may  be  a  calm  and  ferocious  egoism,  or  deep 
conceit,  perfect  treachery,  cool  and  deliberate  cruelty,  or  a 
shameless  want  of  pity  for  the  weak,  the  sick,  the  useless,  the 
abandoned. 

And  yet,  withal,  what  good  dispositions  we  find,  what  easy 
and  ever  ready  hospitality,  what  fidelity  to  their  word,  what 
attachment,  generosity,  disinterestedness,  endurance,  courage! 
By  their  reserve  and  modesty  these  savages  frequently  give 
civilized  man  wonderful  surprises.  Vices  against  nature  are 
everywhere  rare  and  seem  even  to  be  unknown  in  many  places. 
Public  indecency  is  not  allowed.  While  in  some  places  abbre- 
viated clothes  are  worn,  this  paradise  costume  is  worn  with 
such  ease,  simplicity,  candor,  reserve,  and,  we  may  even  say, 
w^ith  so  much  dignity  that  no  one  thinks  evil  of  it  and  the  most 
modest  eyes  easily  become  accustomed  to  it.  Truly  might  we 
apply  the  adage :  Honny  soyt,  qui  inal  y  perise  ! 

By  way  of  summary  and  complement  to  what  has  been  said 
thus  far,  we  are  pleased  to  cite  a  curious  picture  of  laws  and 
prohibitions  among  the  Bavili  of  Loango.  It  is  taken  from 
the  work  of  K.  E.  Dennett  ^^  already  referred  to. 

"The  Bavili,"  says  Dennett,  "have  a  very  distinct  idea  of  the 
moral  and  natural  law,  and  classify  their  sins  into  five  distinct 
sections  of  the  one  great  class  of  laws  called  Xina  or  things 
forbidden. 

"The  first  section  is  called  Xina  Xivauga  Xzambi,  or  that 
which  is  contrary  to  God  the  Creator." 
"Dennett,  op.  cit.,  pp.  50-52. 


MORALITY  161 

The  second  refers  to  the  magic  mirror — resembling  pho- 
tography— into  which  only  the  Nganga  Nzamhi  (the  "seeing  of 
God'^)  may  look  to  discover  therein  the  successor  of  the  chief 
of  Loango,  made,  they  say,  after  the  image  of  God. 

"The  third  we  find  in  the  w^ay  the  mothers  correct  their 
children  when  they  talk  foolishly  of  God.'' 

The  fourth  prescribes  the  observance  of  each  fourth  day. 
On  this  day  "the  prince  or  father  may  have  no  connection  with 
his  wife,  he  may  not  go  outside  of  his  town,  he  may  not  hold  a 
palaver.  The  doctor  of  ^Nganga  Bilongo  may  not  bleed  his 
patient.     The  women  may  not  work  in  the  fields. 

"The  fifth  comprises  all  those  ceremonies  and  things  for- 
bidden concerning  maternity.  A  woman  must  not  sleep  with 
her  husband  on  the  ground.  A  girl  must  not  have  connection 
with  a  man  before  she  has  passed  through  the  'paint  house' 
(that  is,  before  submitting  to  initiation).  'No  dishonor  to 
their  parents  must  be  thought  of." 

Another  series  of  "sins" : 

1.  To  kill   (a  man  of  your  own  tribe). 

2.  To  commit  adultery. 

3.  To  steal. 

4.  To  bear  false  witness. 
Another  series: 

To  desire  what  does  not  belong  to  you:  for  example,  at  the 
market,  where  everything  placed  under  the  tree  of  the  place 
is  sacred,  as  this  tree  is  intended  to  shelter  the  body  of  the 
deceased  king  before  his  removal  to  the  grave. 

Lastly  comes  the  class  of  totemistic  prohibitions  concerning 
marriage  between  relatives.  Infraction  of  these  prohibitions 
is  punished  by  God,  who  then  holds  back  the  rain  at  the  time 
when  it  ought  to  come. 

In  all  the  above  we  find  no  question  of  slavery,  suicide,  and 
many  other  matters.  In  Africa,  slavery  is  not  regarded  as 
something  forbidden:  it  is  the  only  form  of  domestic  service 
known.  As  a  master  has  all  the  rights  of  property  over  his 
slave,  he  may  use  him  as  his  interest  dictates.  But  useless 
cruelties  would  be  regarded  as  evil,  and  in  fact  are  rare. 


162  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

Suicide  is  little  known  except,  it  seems,  among  some  tribes 
of  the  interior  near  Tanganyika. 

As  for  sorcery,  i.e.,  practice  of  black  magic  and  witchcraft, 
there  is  no  need  to  speak.  It  is  an  unpardonable  crime,  every- 
where punished  by  death  under  the  most  terrible  and  igno- 
minious conditions. 

The  transgression  of  a  prohibition  or  the  perpetration  of  a 
fault  or  crime  is  reputed  to  be  '^sin"  {nsem  the  Fans  say),  in- 
volving moral  stain  and  punishment. 

Children,  idiots,  and  fools  are  not  considered  as  personally 
responsible  for  their  acts  but  the  party  injured  may  obtain 
a  suitable  indemnity  from  the  relatives  of  such. 

To  wound  or  kill  an  adversary  in  legitimate  self-defense  is 
allowable,  and  to  take  whatever  one  finds  on  a  plantation  when 
one  is  hungry — ^provided  it  be  done  openly. 

But  one  is  responsible  for  every  death  occurring  in  his  home 
unless  he  can  prove  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  which 
is  not  always  easy. 

In  the  casuistry  of  the  savage,  free  consent  is  not  necessary 
to  create  a  fault  or  at  least  a  stain.  Every  violation  of  a  taboo, 
for  example,  whether  willed  or  not,  is  bad  and  punishable. 
More  than  that ;  there  are  some  people  who,  without  knowing  it, 
are  guilty  of  practicing  witchcraft,  of  killing  their  neighbor,  of 
plucking  out  the  soul  of  some  one  while  he  is  asleep,  of  being 
the  unconscious  cause  of  numerous  calamities.  Some  have  a 
sort  of  vampire  within  them  which,  during  their  sleep,  wan- 
ders about,  puts  different  persons  to  death,  and  finally  kills 
them  themselves.  Thus  in  Gabon,  on  the  death  at  the  one 
time  of  several  persons,  the  bodies  are  opened  to  look  for  this 
dread  beast  and  .  .  .  they  often  find  it! 

These  sins  are  not  all  of  the  same  nature.     In  Loango,  for 
y^/    example,  there  are  offenses  against  God  and  offenses  against 
^/     man.     For  the  former,  not  only  the  guilty  person,  but  the 
'  ^  i    whole  community  is  considered  responsible  and  held  to  repara- 
tion.    Such  would  be  a  case  of  incest,  of  marriage  between 
near  relatives,  adultery  with  the  wife  of  the  king,  moral  dis- 


MORALITY  163 

orders  between  young  people  who  have  not  yet  passed  through 
the  ceremonies  of  initiation. 

For  other  offenses,  the  guilty  person  is  responsible  and,  in 
his  default,  each  member  of  his  family  is  responsible,  but 
free  to  turn  against  him. 

But  where  the  sin  implies  personal  stain  and  a  punishment 
inflicted  by  the  powers  invisible,  is  there  no  means  of  purifying 
one's  self  and  freeing  one's  soul  ? 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  these  people  have  felt  that  neces- 
sity. To  free  themselves  from  remorse,  to  recover  peace  of 
mind,  and  to  resume  the  path  of  life  without  reproach,  those 
who  are  guilty  have  special  ceremonies  which  they  undergo 
and,  if  needs  be,  are  compelled  to  undergo.  There  is  none 
more  astonishing  than  the  remission  of  sins,  obtained  in  Kikuyu 
(British  East  Africa)  by  confession,  followed  by  absolution 
and  penance.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Kikuyu  has  remained 
until  these  last  years  absolutely  closed  to  Europeans  and  so 
there  is  no  question  that  this  may  be  a  Christian  importation. 
The  ceremony  is  called  Ko-tahihio  (literally,  to  vomit,  sc.  sin). 
It  is  described  by  J.  Cayzac,  C.S.Sp.,  missionary  at  E'airobi. 
Among  the  Wa-Kikuyu,  the  megiro  (taboos)  are  countless  and 
the  transgression  of  the  least  of  them  constitutes  a  saliu  or 
sin.  If,  for  instance,  a  serpent  crosses  my  path,  if  the  wind 
fells  one  of  my  trees,  if  a  hyena  deposits  its  dung  near  my 
hut,  I  have  a  sahu  on  my  conscience;  and  if  I  keep  it  there, 
death  will  strike  me,  or  my  children  will  have  to  suffer  or  my 
herd  will  perish. 

One  must  go  "vomit''  his  sin. 

Confessor  and  penitent  install  themselves  in  the  open  air  at 
some  deserted  corner  of  the  village.  They  squat  on  the  ground 
and  the  confession  begins : 

I  accuse  myself  of  a  serpent  that  crossed  my  path. 
I  accuse  myself  of  a  frog  that  jumped  into  my  fire. 
I  accuse  myself  of  a  pot  that  poured  the  soup  on  the  ground. 
And  I  especially  accuse  myself  of  having  shaved  my  wife's 
head. 


164  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIYES 

At  each  of  the  sahu  which  he  thus  spits  out,  the  penitent  ex- 
pectorates. 

"These  are  the  sins  of  the  Kikuyus/'  adds  Father  Cayzac, 
"or  rather  some  of  their  sins,  for  they  have  hundreds  of  liiem, 
without  counting  the  others,  the  real  ones,  which  they  must 
also  confess  at  times.  They  are  so  persuaded  of  the  evil  influ- 
ence of  sin  that  they  even  believe  a  child  may  suffer  for  the 
faults  of  his  parents:  thus,  two  or  three  days  after  its  birth, 
every  little  Kikuyu  is  the  object  of  a  ceremony  designed  to 
free  it  from  all  moral  stains  it  may  have.  Should  it  later  on 
fall  sick,  its  father  and  mother  will  go  and  make  their  con- 
fession to  obtain  its  cure. 

"As  a  preliminary  necessity  the  penitent  must  be  accom- 
panied by  a  fine  sheep  that  he  presents  to  the  'confessor/  as  a 
visible  sign  of  his  interior  repentance.  As  to  this  offering 
there  is  no  compromise,  but  they  are  more  accommodating  on 
the  question  of  the  avowal  of  sins.  When  any  one  linds  him- 
self embarrassed  in  confessing  such  or  such  a  fault,  the  con- 
fessor hands  him  a  little  stick:  the  penitent  retires,  tells  his 
sin  to  the  stick,  which  he  then  hands  back  to  the  sorcerer.  The 
latter  gladly  accepts  the  avowal  as  though  made  to  himself. 

"The  absolution  follows.  Turning  his  eyes  successively  to 
the  four  directions,  the  confessor  pronounces  the  formula :  'God 
who  art  in  front,  remove  his  sins;  God  who  art  behind,  God 
who  art  to  the  right,  God  who  art  to  the  left,  remove  his  sins.' 
Then  he  says  in  these  very  words:  '1  free  thee  from  thy  sins, 
all,  those  which  thou  knowest  and  those  which  thou  knowest 
not.'  After  this,  he  leans  over  the  penitent,  makes  a  sign  of 
taking  the  stains  out  of  his  heart,  and  throws  them  far,  far 
away. 

"When  this  is  done,  the  good  Kikuyu  goes  away,  relieved  of 
his  faults  .  .  .  and  of  his  sheep.'' 

At  the  other  extremity  of  Africa,  a  sort  of  confession  exists 
among  the  Fans,  at  least  those  along  the  bank  of  the  Como 
(estuary  of  the  Gabon). 

A  Fan  who  is  sick  is  invited  by  the  feticher  to  avow  his  sins 
so  as  to  obtain  his  cure.  The  confession  takes  place  before 
the  men  of  the  village,  in  the  midst  of  a  scene  especially  pre- 
pared.    The  sins  that  are  to  be  revealed  are  usually  ritualistic 


MORALITY  165 

faults,  violations  of  things  forbidden  or  sacred,  taboo  or  "eki," 
sometimes  even  acts  that  are  insignificant  in  themselves  and 
that  imply  no  idea  of  fault.  However,  grave  faults  and  even 
crimes  have  been  made  known  under  such  circumstances, 
although  this  is  not  generally  the  case. 

^Tell  thy  sin,''  cries  the  feticher  to  the  sick  man.  And  as 
soon  as  the  latter  has  uttered  a  new  accusation,  the  feticher, 
in  his  capacity  of  penitentiary,  cries:  Kan  oshu  nkil  literally 
'^May  thy  fault  fly  abroad,  toward  the  sea."  And  the  others 
present  repeat:  Kan  oshu  nhi!  ^^May  it  fly  abroad!" 

The  ceremony  is  complicated  by  purifications,  aspersions, 
and  the  sacrifice  of  a  hen  or  goat  on  which  the  feticher  and 
the  rest  of  the  gathering  make  a  meal  at  the  expense  of  the 
sick  man.  If  he  does  not  get  better,  it  is  because  his  confession 
was  not  complete.^* 

Although  this  particular  practice  of  confession  is  special  to 
certain  tribes,  yet  everywhere  sin  implies  a  judgment,  a  com- 
pensation or  a  penance  to  obtain  remission.  Everywhere  sin 
has  the  character  of  an  offense  or  wrong  against  God,  the 
spirits,  the  manes,  the  chief,  the  father,  the  neighbor;  as  we 
have  already  asserted,  in  the  mind  of  the  primitive  every  in- 
jury requires  reparation  or  payment  that  justice  may  be  satis- 
fied and  that  the  two  sides  of  the  scale,  momentarily  disturbed, 
may  resume  their  equilibrium. 

Children  are  chastised;  but  adults  when  guilty,  are  con- 
demned to  pay  a  fine  in  money,  articles  of  exchange,  goats, 
sheep,  or  oxen,  w^omen  or  slaves,  according  to  the  case. 

Imprisonment,  as  we  practice  it,  is  unknown.  But  there  are 
various  substitutes.  One  of  the  best  known  is  the  use  of  fetters 
consisting  of  a  long  bar  of  wood  which  holds  the  prisoner's 
feet.  Scourging  is  done  with  thongs  cut  from  the  skin  of  the 
lamentin,  rhinoceros,  or  hippopotamus.  In  some  places  mutila- 
tion is  frequently  resorted  to:  for  example,  for  a  thief  they 
will  cut  off  one  ear,  a  finger,  and  often  a  hand. 

If  the  fault  committed  is  an  offense  against  the  invisible 
world,  a  sacrifice  is  rigorously  necessary.     And  if  the  crime 

""Note  of  Father  Briault,  C.S.Sp.,  missionary  in  Gabon. 


166  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

is  such  as  to  provoke  the  anger  of  God  or  the  manes  of  their 
ancestors  against  the  country  or  the  tribe,  the  country  or  the 
tribe  must  free  itself  by  a  public  expiation. 

The  judge  may  be  the  sorcerer,  the  father  of  the  family,  the 
chief,  or  the  council  of  the  ancients :  all  depends  on  the  nature 
of  the  infractions. 

One  penalty  may  be  redeemed  by  another.  A  man  con- 
demned to  death  can  free  himself  by  offering  a  sum  to  be 
determined  by  discussion,  or  by  giving  up  one  or  several  of  his 
slaves  to  be  killed  in  his  stead. 

We  have  remarked  that  all  the  members  of  a  family  are 
liable  for  the  deeds  of  the  whole  family.  We  must  agree  that 
this  legislation  is  readily  explained  in  a  country  where  it  is  so 
easy  for  criminals  to  disappear  and  escape  the  reprisals  of 
justice.  The  family  is  supposed  to  surrender  the  guilty  mem- 
ber or  the  one  who  is  to  take  his  place;  otherwise  he  will  be 
taken  by  hook  or  crook  even  if  it  be  necessary  to  wait  weeks, 
months,  or  years. 

"Blood  for  blood'' :  the  law  is  absolute  and  universal,  except 
in  case  one  can  redeem  himself. 

If,  despite  every  effort,  the  author  of  some  injury  remains 
rmknown,  all  hope  of  reparation,  that  is  of  vengeance,  is  not 
lost:  there  is  still  another  resource;  to  find  a  good  sorcerer, 
"file  a  complaint  against  person  unknown,"  and  wait.  They 
will  then  proceed  to  a  magical  "envoutement,"  ^'^  and  justice 
will  be  done. 

But  in  case  of  doubt,  as  frequently  happens,  recourse  is  had 
to  a  judicial  test  or  ordeal  ^^  which,  in  spite  of  its  character,  is 
a  sort  of  appeal  to  immanent  justice  for  a  judgment  to  supple- 
ment that  of  men. 

This  test  is  of  two  degrees :  for  ordinary  cases,  when  a  ques- 
tion between  two  litigants  is  to  be  decided,  when  a  thief  is  to 
be  found,  or  a  confession  extorted ;  and  for  cases  of  witchcraft, 
on  the  occasion  of  a  death  or  serious  illness,  an  epidemic,  or 
a  public  misfortune.  It  varies  according  to  the  place.  In 
some  localities  the  accused  is  pricked  on  the  arm  with  a  red-hot 

'  "  See  page  230. 
'"Ordeal,  Anglo-Saxon  ordaal,  German  urtheil,    "judgment," 


MOEALITY  167 

spear:  if  it  does  not  burn,  it  is  a  sign  of  his  innocence;  if  lie 
feels  the  burn,  be  is  guilty.  In  other  places  they  use  boiling 
water  into  which  the  accused  dips  his  hand.  But  the  usual 
ordeal  is  to  have  him  swallow  a  concoction  made  from  the  bark 
of  a  certain  tree,  powerfully  poisonous,  that  is  called  NJcasa  in 
Congo. 

"Sometimes  the  stomach  rejects  the  noxious  compound,"  says 
Bentley,  "and  the  man  vomits,  in  which  case  he  is  declared 
innocent,  and  the  witch  doctor  loses  his  fee — indeed,  in  some 
parts  is  heavily  fined  for  the  false  charge.  More  often,  if  he 
has  not  avoided  the  risk  by  ascribing  the  death  to  some  charm, 
or  to  some  person  recently  dead,  he  makes  sure  of  his  case. 
His  victim  staggers  and  falls.  With  a  wild  yell  the  bystanders 
rush  at  him,  beat  him  to  death,  burn  or  bury  him  alive,  throw 
him  over  a  precipice,  or  in  some  way  finish  the  terrible  work, 
exhibiting  a  savage  ferocity  equal  to  their  deep  sense  of  the 
enormity  of  the  crime  laid  to  his  charge."  ^^ 

Among  other  tribes,  the  Fans  of  Gabon  for  example,  a  death 
is  avenged  in  a  different  way:  the  guilty  person  is  seized  or, 
lacking  him,  some  member  of  his  family,  killed  and  eaten. 
Thereby  justice  is  truly  satisfied:  blood  for  blood,  man  for 
man! 

^  This  is  not  all.  The  sanction  of  morality  is  equally  assured 
by  the  action  of  that  higher,  invisible  world  from  which  nothing 
escapes. 

If  any  one  has  a  misfortune,  an  illness,  or  other  trouble,  his 
neighbors  and  those  of  his  own  household  will  consider  it  a 
just  punishment  for  faults  committed  by  him.  He  will  attempt 
an  expiation  by  making  an  offering  or  a  sacrifice  to  the  spirits 
or  the  manes. 

A  village  may  do  the  same,  or  even  at  times  a  whole  tribe. 

Lastly,  there  is  the  sanction  passed  on  a  man's  lot  by  the 
other  world.  Vague,  undefined,  and  obscure  it  is  in  some 
minds,  but  with  others  it  is  evident  in  the  different  destinies 
that  await  the  disembodied  souls.  Quisque  suos  patimur  manes 
("We  suffer  in  our  manes;  each  one  in  his  own"),  said  Virgil. 
That  is  also  what  our  Blacks  think.     'Eo  soul  passing  into 

**Rev.  Bentley,  Diet,  and  Qrammar  of  the  Kongo  Language  (Nganga). 


168  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

the  other  life  is  at  first  completely  happy.  Little  by  little  those 
who  have  in  themselves  a  greater  power  of  initiative,  as  the 
manes  of  chiefs,  warriors,  or  "seers,"  finally  achieve  equality 
with  the  spirits  and  genii. 

Souls  of  no  account  fall  into  a  lethargy. 

The  evil  soul  sometimes  has  to  wander  in  a  cold  dark  forest ; 
sometimes,  hanging  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  it  will  shiver  at 
night  and  grow  pale  from  suffering  and  anguish;  and  some- 
times, say  the  Fans,  it  will  be  cast  into  the  Ototolan  and  there 
will  end  by  gradually  burning  until  there  is  nothing  left  of  it, 
like  the  torches  made  of  bark  and  resin  which,  in  the  equatorial 
forest,  are  burned  as  a  guide  at  night. 

Now  that  we  have  replied  at  sufficient  length  to  the  questions 
which   we  proposed   above,   let  us  summarize  what  we  have 


1.  Beyond  any  doubt,  our  Blacks  have  a  morality  whose 
basis  is  fundamentally  just  the  same  as  that  acknowledged  by 
the  conscience  of  the  whole  human  species,  whatever  race,  coun- 
try, or  period  of  its  development  be  considered.  The  soul  of 
the  primitive  is  made  like  our  soul:  between  the  two  types 
there  is  not  the  slightest  essential  difference.  Only  the  appli- 
cations of  morality  differ,  "on  this  side  of  the  Pyrenees  and 
on  the  other,"  as  on  this  side  of  the  ocean  and  on  the  other. 
This  variability  can  be  understood.  In  the  interpretation  of 
the  code  of  universal  laws,  can  we  really  expect  agreement 
among  the  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  million  judges  at  present 
in  the  world? 

Morality,  we  are  told,  gathers  together  the  conventions  and 
prejudices  created  by  the  mind  of  man  and  slowly  evolves  in 
accord  with  the  general  progress  of  human  groups  during  the 
course  of  the  ages.  Hence  Africa  is  a  magnificent  field  of 
observation  for  us :  if  the  theory  is  correct,  there  will  be  mani- 
fest a  gradation  in  morality  from  the  most  backward  popula- 
tions to  the  most  advanced  in  civilization.  In  fact,  the 
gradation  does  exist;  but  the  ranks  are  strangely  confused 
and  even  reversed.  It  is  well  recognized  that  our  unfortunate 
little  Negrillos,  who  have  stopped  at  the  very  first  rung  on  the 


MOEALITY  169 

ladder  of  progress,  have  a  speculative  and  practical  morality 
certainly  superior  to  many  African  tribes  relatively  civilized. 
The  most  disgusting  anthropophagites  at  present  in  the  world 
are  without  doubt  the  Bondjos  of  Ubanghi :  but  the  Bondjos 
are  very  well  formed,  intelligent  people,  lacking  nothing, 
superior  in  everything  to  the  tribes  around  them,  except 
in  morality. 

Let  me  cite  another  experience.  The  Catholic  missions  that 
are  to-day  found  scattered  throughout  the  African  interior,  re- 
ceive children  and  young  men  belonging  to  the  various  tribes 
of  the  black  continent  and  teach  them,  among  other  things, 
the  text  and  the  practice  of  the  decalogue.  It  is  found  that, 
on  the  whole,  the  sons  of  savages  and  cannibals  soon  form  a 
boarding-school  as  elevated  certainly  in  morality,  if  not  more 
so,  as  many  European  colleges.  This  transformation  takes 
place  in  a  few  months.  What  was  necessary  for  its  accom- 
plishment? Certainly  not  the  complete  reversal  of  these 
natures  and  the  creation  of  thoroughly  new  consciences.  All 
that  is  required  is  the  removal  of  some  errors,  the  rectification 
of  certain  prejudices,  and  on  the  common  basis  of  universal 
morality  found  in  every  ^^soul  of  good  will,"  the  construction 
of  Christian  morality,  which  is  admirably  adapted  to  that 
foundation.  I  justly  conclude  therefore  that  it  is  incorrect  to 
maintain,  for  individuals  as  for  nations,  that  morality  can  be 
purified  only  by  the  long  work  of  centuries  and  the  persistent 
action  of  heredity. 

Do  not  raise  the  objection  that  these  same  children,  when 
they  are  set  down  in  a  European  environment,  often  become   , 
more   deceitful,   slothful,   dishonest,   and  worthless  than  they  | 
were  before.     I  admit  it  at  once  and  even  draw  therefrom  * 
another  argument  for  my  thesis.      Among  their  tribes  these 
children  had  a  pagan  morality.     At  the  mission  they  adopted 
Christian  morality.     In  contact  with  Europeans,  where  they 
now    become    ^'boys"    for    every   kind    of   service,    they    have 
adopted  the  independent  morality  which,  without  support  or 
sanction  of  any  kind  (except  the  club  and  the  prison),  becomes 
a  deplorably  lax  morality.    But  who  is  to  blame  ? 

Will  you  say  that,  despite  all,  this  training  is  insufficient 


t^' 


170  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIYES 

for  young  human  plants  brought  up  in  hot-houses,  that  it  is  a 
forced,  hasty,  and  more  or  less  artificial  moralization  ? 

We  have  other  examples. 

About  sixty  years  ago,  entire  populations  of  black  slaves — 
i.e.,  the  lowest  element  from  the  moral  point  of  view — who  had 
been  taken  from  the  African  coast  and  transported  to  the 
Antilles  of  the  Indian  Sea,  were  freed  and  Christianized. 
Since  then  unfortunately,  in  the  French  colonies  at  least,  they 
have  had  to  suffer  a  great  deal  from  political  conditions  which 
fomented  wars  of  races,  colors,  and  persons,  and  too  often 
resulted  in  the  crushing  of  the  vanquished  and  the  monopoly 
of  all  the  lucrative  positions  by  the  victors.  Yet,  if  we  wish 
to  be  just  and  impartial,  we  will  agree  that  the  average 
morality  of  these  people  is  not  appreciably  lower  than  the 
generality  of  European  morality;  the  courts  are  not  more 
encumbered  with  cases ;  murder,  theft,  rape,  and  other  heinous 
crimes  are  not  more  frequent.  It  is  true  that  family  ties 
appear  less  sacred;  but  in  those  countries  where  habits  are 
loose,  are  the  Blacks  the  only  ones  to  practice  "free  unions"  ? 
If  the  Americans  of  the  United  States  protest,  it  is  easy  to 
answer:  "If  your  Blacks  are  without  morality,  what  have  you 
done  to  moralize  them?" 

2.  The  taboo  plays  a  curious  and  interesting  part  in  the 
discipline  imposed  on  man  and  in  the  organization  of  the  first 
societies  which  are  an  extension  of  the  family.  But  we  would 
greatly  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the  taboo  if  we  made  it 
the  whole  of  primitive  morality.  The  taboo  is  no  more  morality 
than  the  totem  is  religion. 

Both  are  explained  by  the  mentality  of  the  first  men  and 
the  mentality  of  those  who  even  to-day  still  resemble  them 
in  their  spirit,  still  continue  their  traditions,  and  follow  their 
.customs. 

But  both  necessarily  presuppose  religious  beliefs  on  which 
'to  rest  and  a  foundation  of  natural  morality  to  support  all 
the  prohibitions  and  laws  that  have  been  given  to  men.  In 
fact,  the  totem  and  the  taboo  are  superstitions:  the  totem,  a 
superstition  and  parasite  of  religion;  the  taboo,  a  superstition 
and  parasite  of  morality. 


MOEALITY  171 

3.  Wliat  remains  to  be  added  on  the  subject  of  the  pretended 
lack  of  connection  between  religion  and  morality  in  primitive 
civilizations?  If  you  have  grasped  the  developments  of  the 
preceding  pages,  you  will  doubtless  have  concluded  that  this 
question  has  been  ill  put  and  ill  solved.  We  willingly  grant 
that  morality  does  not  come  from  naturism  nor  from  animism. 
^^Visible  nature   is   not   moral/'   A.    Keville   said   with   some 


"As  to  the  spirits  separate  from  nature/'  he  adds,  "spirits 
whose  worship  constitutes  animism,  projections  of  the  human 
spirits  that  adore  them  and  that  imagine  them  quite  like  them- 
selves, these  capricious,  fantastic,  irascible,  and  plaguing  spirits 
do  not  offer  the  least  evidence  for  attaching  a  moral  sentiment 
to  their  character  or  for  any  advantage  to  be  derived  from  a 
religious  union  with  them."  ^^ 

That  is  true.  But  we  forget  an  essential  fact;  the  religion 
of  the  Blacks  is  neither  completely  animism  nor  completely 
naturism,  in  the  sense  ordinarily  attached  to  these  words. 
Whatever  that  religion  may  be,  it  imposes  on  its  followers, 
practices  and  prohibitions  not  all  of  which  are  dangerous, 
ridiculous,  or  useless.  It  places  a  check,  often  efficacious,  on 
the  evil  passions  of  man,  regulates  his  life  in  a  certain  way, 
and  constitutes  a  moral  rule  for  him.  In  other  words,  experi- ' 
ence  proves  that  it  is  better  for  a  society  to  have  a  rudimentary 
religion  than  none  at  all,  to  be  fetichist  than  atheistic.  That 
is  the  plain  truth. 

It  is  a  truth  now  confirmed  by  an  interesting  social  experi- 
ment carried  on  at  present  under  our  eyes  along  the  African 
coasts  where  European  settlements  are  founded  at  regular  in- 
tervals. About  these  "colonies"  where  Whites,  Blacks,  and 
half-breeds  fuse  together,  called  there  by  diverse  interests,  and 
where  the  moralization  of  the  native  generally  counts  for  noth- 
ing, the  local  beliefs,  the  customs,  practices,  and  prohibitions  of 
the  ancestral  religion  are  soon  forgotten  and  disappear.  Family 
bonds  are  relaxed.     The  Blacks  become  more  and  more  dis- 

'"Reville,  Les  religions  dcs  peuples  non  civilises,  I,  p.  119. 
''lUd. 


172  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

organized.  Soon  all  that  remains  of  the  ancient  tribes  that 
were  found  there,  are  some  individuals  without  cohesion,  with 
little  that  is  interesting  and  little  that  is  commendable  about 
them,  who  do  not  reproduce  themselves.  In  Gabon,  for  in- 
stance, under  our  very  eyes  the  Mpongwes,  the  Bengas,  the 
Galoas,  the  Enengas,  the  Nkomis,  and  the  Bavili  are  thus 
coming  to  an  end:  our  "civilization"  has  killed  them.  If  the 
savages  of  the  interior  did  not  continually  come  to  settle  on 
the  coasts,  the  coasts  would  soon  be  uninhabited.  Everywhere 
is  the  same  decimation. 

Why? 

One  day  I  was  treating  wth  an  old  chief  of  Bata  (now  in 
Spanish  Guinea)  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  a  Catholic 
mission  on  his  lands. 

"Yes,"  he  said  to  me;  "come,  and  hasten:  for  if  you  delay, 
you  will  no  longer  find  us !  The  Whites  have  come  here.  They 
have  brought  commerce  here,  ^hey  have  settled  soldiers  here. 
They  have  called  in  strangerj^  They  have  brought  their  boats 
full  of  merchandise.  All  talt  is  well.  But  my  children  no 
longer  believe  in  anythinJBmy  daughters  are  scattered  every- 
where, the  ancients  are  ndplnger  listened  to.  The  Whites  have 
taken  our  beliefs  from  u^and  have  given  us  nothing  in  their 
place.     That  is  why  we  are  going  to  die." 

And  the  old  chief  added: 

"Come  among  us,  you,  the  missionaries.  You  will  not  give 
us  back  the  customs  of  our  fathers ;  but  you  will  teach  us  yours. 
We  will  hear  you ;  perhaps  God  wishes  to  make  us  still  live !" 

And  it  seemed  to  me  that  day  that  my  old  black  chief  rea- 
soned better  on  a  matter  of  colonial  sociology  than  many  of 
our  parliamentarians,  and  better  than  some  of  our  governors. 


CHAPTER  VI 

WOESHIP 

I.     What  is  Worship?     Religious  worship. 

II.  Object  of  Worship.  Nature.  New  examination  of  naturism:  what 
it  is  not;  what  it  is.  Animism  again.  Fetichism.  Fetiches,  amu- 
lets, and  talismrkns.    Differences  between  the  populations.    Manism. 

III.  The  Organization  of  Worship.     The  "priest"  among  the  primitives 

is  the  head  of  the  family.  The  physician,  the  seer,  the  sorcerer,  the 
conjurer.  Secret  societies.  Necessary  distinctions.  Fraud  or  con- 
viction?    The  transmission  of  powers. 

IV.  E5i:TEBNAi.  Manifestations  of  Worship.     Family  character  of  primi- 

tive worship.  The  house  and  the  tomb.  The  village  and  the 
cemetery.  Sanctuaries,  sacred  enclosures,  and  sacred  groves. 
Statuettes  and  fetiches.  Worship  of  the  manes,  of  tutelary  spirits, 
of  God.  Holy  days.  SjTubols,  rites,  and  liturgy.  Prayer.  Songs. 
Symbolic  marks.  Colors.  Blessings,  The  offertory,  sacrifice,  and 
communion.  Human  sacrifice  and  anthropophagy.  Different  kinds 
of  sacrifice.  The  reason  and  origin  of  the  sacrifice  and  communion : 
theories  and  conclusions. 

I.    What  Is  Worship  ? 

As  morality  is  the  practice  of  belief,  external  worship  is  its 
expression.  Wherever  there  is  a  religion,  there  is  a  worship, 
and  wherever  we  find  a  worship,  we  may  say  that  it  presupposes 
a  religion. 

Religion,  in  fact,  rests  on  the  conviction  that  above  men  and 
nature  there  exist  higher  powers  on  whom  we  depend,  towards 
whom  we  have  duties  to  fulfill,  and  with  whom  we  must  be 
on  favorable  terms  so  as  to  avoid  at  least  the  physical  evils  that 
always  threaten  us  and  to  obtain  leave  from  them  to  pursue  our 
destiny. 

At  the  same  time  the  conscience  of  man,  while  showing  the 
criminality  of  certain  acts  and  making  him  fear  the  punish- 
ments that  he  feels  he  has  deserved,  leads  him  to  seek  the  means 
of  calming  the  mysterious  powers  he  has  offended  and  whose 
reproaches  he  hears  echoing  in  the  depth  of  his  soul. 

173 


174  THE  EELIGIOlSr  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

In  fact,  if  man  has  one  or  several  masters  in  tlie  dominating 
invisible  world,  he  owes  them  a  homage  of  respect,  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  sovereignty,  an  avowal  of  his  dependence.  His 
duty  and  interest  lead  him  to  implore  their  help,  to  endeavor 
to  calm  their  wrath  and  win  back  their  favor  when  he  has 
lost  it;  and  in  expressing  these  various  dispositions,  to  employ 
visible,  external  means,  prayers  and  ceremonies  that  seem  to 
him  best  suited  to  attain  these  ends. 

All  this  ensemble  of  means  employed  by  man  to  enter  into* 
relation  with   the   world   invisible,    constitutes   what   we   call 

WOESHIP. 

In  this  homage  of  worship,  we  may  consider:  the  object  to 
which  it  is  addressed;  the  ministers  who  are  charged  with  it; 
the  external  manifestations  that  it  occasions. 

The  question  of  worship  must  not  be  mixed  with  that  of 
magic.  As  the  counterfeit  of  religion,  magic  also  has  a  worship  •- 
with  its  determined  object,  its  secret  practices,  its  witchcraft, 
and  its  organization.  But  to  unite  under  the  one  title  and  to 
treat  together  two  things  entirely  opposed,  would  be  a  source 
of  confusion.  We  must  say,  nevertheless,  that,  in  the  state  in 
which  religious  matters  exist  in  the  black  country,  it  is  often 
difficult  to  mark  out  a  clear  line  of  separation  between  religious 
and  magical  worship :  let  us  try  to  do  so,  however. 

11.     The  Object  of  Keligious  Worship 

The  object  of  religious  worship  among  the  !N'egrillos  and 
Bantus  is  evidently  none  other  than  the  object  of  their  beliefs : 
nature,  in  so  far  as  it  is  dominated  by  a  mysterious  and  sovereign 
Master,  the  manes  of  the  dead,  the  tutelary  spirits,  and  God. 
We  must  return  at  this  point  to  a  number  of  questions  already 
touched  on,  and  even  repeat  ourselves  to  some  extent. 

A.  Eeville  has  defined  the  naturism  of  the  African  Blacks  as 
^ ^religion,  insomuch  as  it  has  for  its  direct  object,  phenomena, 
bodies,     or    forces    of    nature    regarded    as    animated    and 
conscious."  ^ 
*Reville,  op.  cit,  I,  p.  67. 


WORSHIP  175 

And  he  thinks  he  recognizes  this  naturism  in  the  particular 
veneration  shown  in  certain  places  for  the  moon,  in  a  sort  of 
worship  rendered  to  the  cow  (this  latter  related  to  the  worship 
of  the  moon  because  the  crescent  recalls  the  pair  of  horns  or 
because  the  pair  of  horns  recalls  the  crescent),  in  the  adoration 
of  the  sea  along  the  coast  of  Guinea,  and  in  the  personification 
of  the  earth  as  the  spouse  of  the  sky.  He  also  cites  lakes, 
rivers,  and  their  sources  as  the  object  of  negro  adoration, 
trees,  especially  if  they  are  tall  and  thick  in  girth,  certain 
animals  unusually  clever,  strong,  and  mysterious,  and  a  number 
of  other  objects  that  strike  their  imagination,  which  they 
"animalize."  ^  Abbe  Bros  likewise  says  that,  for  non-civilized 
peoples,  the  sun,  moon,  stones,  trees,  and  animals  have  a  history. 
They  are  born,  live,  marry,  and  die,  have  adventures,  become 
angry,  and  are  pacified,    l^othing  human  is  a  stranger  to  them.^ 

We  have  already  remarked  how  this  conception  of  the  sav- 
age seems  to  us  greatly  exaggerated  and  purely  conventional. 
The  savage,  like  the  civilized  man,  speaks,  imagines,  invents, 
poetizes,  and,  although  he  has  never  pursued  a  course  of  rhet- 
oric, composes  numerous  figures  of  speech,  metaphors,  hyper- 
boles, prosopopoeias.  He  has  his  stories  and  fables  that  he 
likes  to  repeat  and  hear  repeated  just  as  we  do.  He  has  fables 
in  which  he  introduces  animals  and  plants,  like  ^sop, 
Phsedrus,  and  La  Fontaine;  but  for  him  as  for  them  it  is  a 
'^manner  of  speaking.''  He  has  legends  also  in  which  we  learn 
the  sun  is  married  to  the  moon  and  has  numerous  children,  the 
stars;  but  we  would  go  beyond  the  legitimate  bounds  of  cre- 
dulity in  believing  him  so  simple  as  to  put  faith  in  the  reality 
of  this  household. 

The  savage !  The  primitive !  He  is  you  and  I,  almost.  He 
is  a  man,  often  an  intelligent  man;  it  is  quite  wrong  to  make 
his  acquaintance  and  to  judge  him  by  the  fantastic  representa- 
tions made  of  him  by  those  who  have  never  seen  him. 

If  these  writers  speak  to  us  of  phytolatry,  litholatry,  hydro- 
latry,  pyrolatry,  geolatry,  astrolatry,  and  zoolatry,  we  will 
understand.     In  reality,  our  Blacks  "adore"  neither  the  stars' 

'Bros,  op.  city  p.  64. 


176  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

nor  animals  nor  plants  nor  bodies  of  water  nor  stones.  As 
we  have  often  remarked,  we  have  here  a  confusion  and  a  mis- 
understanding, a  thing  that  can  be  explained  easily  enough  for 
travelers  or  even  European  residents.  If  the  Black,  in  fact, 
[pays  worship  to  a  tree  or  a  stone,  it  is  not  to  the  tree  or  stone 
itself  that  this  homage  is  addressed,  but  to  the  tree  or  stone 
influenced  by  some  agent  of  the  invisible  world.  Thus  in  all 
\the  villages  of  interior  Gabon,  of  Loango,  and  of  Congo,  we 
see  in  the  center  of  the  public  square  a  little  tree  at  the  foot 
of  which  the  natives  place  offerings  and  pour  out  libations.  The 
passing  traveler  who  has  read  authors  treating  the  matter  ex 
professo,  will  write  in  his  note-book :  "Dendrolatry,  the  religion 
of  the  Blacks  of  such  a  village."  Or  else:  "]N'aturism  (see 
Keville)."  But  if  this  traveler  had  witnessed  the  foundation 
of  the  village,  he  would  have  seen  the  chief  or  the  sorcerer  plant 
this  little  tree  as  a  sign  that  they  were  taking  possession  of  the 
place,  offer  a  sacrifice,  sprinkle  the  roots  with  the  blood  of  the 
victim,  and  mix  some  ashes  from  the  bones  of  the  ancestors 
with  the  earth  that  is  to  nourish  the  tree.  This  is  why  the 
tree  is  sacred,  why  they  pay  a  sort  of  worship  to  it,  why  these 
people  appear  to  be  "dendrolaters"  to  those  who  see  only  the 
surface. 

If  in  many  places,  near  a  spring,  on  an  islet,  a  cliff,  a 
promontory,  in  a  cave,  or  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain  we 
observe  certain  acts  of  veneration,  we  may  be  sure  something 
happened  there  which  is  no  longer  remembered,  which  struck  the 
imagination  of  the  ancients  and  gave  rise  to  this  veneration; 
at  least,  we  may  be  sure  these  places  have  been  designated  as 
sacred  by  a  seer.  There,  perchance,  a  man  fell  where  his 
remains  still  rest,  here  an  extraordinary  phenomenon  appeared, 
there  the  presence  and  action  of  a  spirit  was  manifested.  Hence 
the  place  is  "sacred." 

In  many  localities  groves  are  selected  to  which  all  approach 
is  forbidden  because  a  cemetery  is  there,  because  it  is  the 
meeting-pjace  of  a  secret  society,  or  because  a  little  temple 
is  erected  there  in  honor  of  some  genii. 

Among  the  Wa-nika  the  hyena  is  a  respected  and  sacred 
animal.     This  is  because  the  Wa-nika  leave  their  dead  on  the 


WORSHIP  177 

surface  of  the  ground;  the  bodies  are  eaten  by  hyenas  which 
thus  incorporate  the  spirits  of  the  ancients. 

We  have  previously  spoken  of  a  lake  on  the  mountains  of 
Boura  in  Taita,  which,  by  its  solitude,  the  calm  of  its  waters, 
and  a  certain  mysterious  aspect,  inspires  a  sort  of  religious 
fear.  The  natives  think  that  the  manes  of  their  relatives  dwell 
upon  its  shore.  They  build  little  cabins  there  and  make  offer- 
ings. This  is  why  the  lake  is  sacred,  as  are  also  the  numberless 
ducks  that  abound  there  and  all  the  living  beings  that  it 
nourishes. 

We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Blacks  do  not  recognize 
many  things  as  sacred,  many  sacred  plants  and  trees,  many 
sacred  animals,  but  such  objects  possess  this  quality  either 
because  they  have  been  taken  as  totems,  or  because  of  a  par- 
ticular property  they  possess,  or  of  a  symbolic  signification 
attributed  to  them,  or  of  a  taboo  that  consecrates  them. 

In  other  words,  there  is  always  a  reason  extrinsic  to  nature 
itself  in  the  worship  rendered  to  nature.  -i 

If  the  Blacks  of  Africa  are  not  naturists  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term,  are  they  not  at  least  animists  ? 

"There  can  be  question  of  animism,"  says  Eeville,  "only 
when  the  spirits  adored  *  are  considered  independently  of  nat- 
ural objects,  living  without  necessary  relation  to  them  .  .  . 
wandering  through  space,  ordinarily  invisible,  sometimes  taking 
a  body,  but  always  free  to  quit  it.''  ^ 

Animists  our  Blacks  are  indeed,  but  in  a  certain  way 
and  in  a  special  sense  of  the  term.  The  worship  paid  the 
ancestral  manes  is  one  thing,  that  to  the  spirits  is  another. 
And  how  many  kinds  of  manes  are  there,  and  how  many  kinds 
of  spirits! 

It  is  certain  that  the  Blacks  firmly  believe  in  the  survival  of 
disembodied  souls,  in  their  activity,  influence,  and  power,  in 
their  ability  to  establish  themselves  in  such  or  such  a  material 

*We  have  already  remarked  how  improperly  this  word  "adore"  is  often 
employed. 

"Reville,  op.  cit.,  p.  67. 


178  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

body,  and  in  our  power  of  entering  into  snch  relation  with  them 
as  summoning  them  or  driving  them  away,  interesting  them  in 
our  affairs,  or  charging  them  with  the  execution  of  our 
vengeance. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  spirits,  good  and  bad,  of  an  extra- 
human  nature.  The  tutelary  spirits  have  a  right  to  our  worship 
and  it  is  to  our  interest  to  make  sure  they  receive  it.  Often 
are  we  obliged  to  be  on  the  watch  against  wicked  spirits  lying 
in  wait  for  us,  or  against  disembodied  souls  that  wish  us  ill. 
There  is,  for  instance,  the  danger  of  our  becoming  ^'possessed." 

The  art  of  winning  over  the  influence  of  the  manes  and 
spirits,  of  associating  ourselves  with  them  in  occult  under- 
standings by  a  pact,  of  compelling  them  to  answer  our  call,  all 
that  is  neither  worship  nor  religion :  it  is  magic. 

In  the  broad  sense  that  we  have  set  forth,  this  animism  is 
often  manifested  and  affirmed  in  a  worship  which  has  been 
called  fetichism,  according  to  the  President  de  Brosses. 

What  is  a  fetich  ?    Let  us  again  quote  A.  Eeville : 

"The  fetich  is  a  common  object  without  any  value  in  itself (•) 
but  which  the  Black  keeps,  venerates,  and  adores  because  he 
believes  it  is  the  dwelling-place  of  a  spirit.  It  is  needless  to 
ask  what  can  be  a  fetich  in  the  eyes  of  the  negro ;  one  might 
better  ask  what  can  not  be.  A  stone,  a  root,  a  vase,  a  feather, 
a  log,  a  shell,  a  colored  cloth,  an  animal's  tooth,  a  snake's  skin, 
a  box,  an  old  rusty  sword,  anything  at  all  can  be  a  fetich  for 
these  grown-up  children.  In  the  list  of  such  objects  we  some- 
times find  even  products  of  European  manufacture."  ^ 

But  this  name  "fetich"  is  applied  especially  to  those  more 
or  less  crude  representations,  generally  in  wood  but  sometimes 
in  clay,  stone,  or  ivory,  rarely  in  metal,  consecrated  to  various 
genii,  which  we  meet  with  particularly  in  the  regions  of  western 
Africa.  In  the  mind  of  the  natives,  these  are  not  at  all 
portraits,  such  as  would  constitute  idolatrous  images  properly 
so  called ;  they  are  figures  emblematic  of  such  and  such  spirits 
who  are  called  to  exercise  their  influence  in  a  well-determined 
sense. 

"  R6ville,  op.  cit.,  p.  81. 


WOESHIP  179 

We  must  distinguish  from  these  fetichist  statuettes  the  im- 
ages which,  among  many  of  the  tribes,  are  connected  with  the 
worship  of  their  ancestors.  These  images  surmount  or  enclose 
relics  of  the  dead,  skulls,  bones,  hair,  finger-nails,  and  other 
human  remains.     They  derive  all  their  value  from  these  relics. 

A  third  class  of  fetiches  that  must  not  be  confused  with  the 
others,  includes  those  destined  for  the  operations  of  black  magic, 
those  that  give  diseases,  cause  death,  satisfy  vengeances.  To 
this  class  belong  the  fetiches  that  we  find  (in  Loango  and  Congo) 
covered  with  nails.    We  will  speak  of  them  later. 

Thus  we  have  three  categories:  family  fetiches  that  derive 
their  power  from  the  relics  of  ancestors  and  are  employed  to 
protect  the  family,  the  village,  or  the  tribe;  fetiches  of  the 
tutelary  genii,  incorporating  spirits  whose  activity  is  eminently 
defensive  and  protective;  and  fetiches  of  bewitching  spirits,  i.e., 
avenging  fetiches. 

Naturally  these  statuettes,  figures,  or  objects  are  active  only 
in  so  far  as  is  the  spirit  that  resides  in  them :  when  "vacated," 
they  are  nothing  more  than  any  other  image  that  can  be  sold, 
given  away,  or  put  aside.  Such  is  the  standing  of  all  the 
fetiches  found  in  our  museums.  To-day  on  the  coast  of  Africa 
there  are  even  makers  of  fetiches  for  exportation :  they  are  sold 
to  Europeans. 

The  fetich  is  different  from  the  amulet  and  from  the  talisman 
inasmuch  as  it  is  held  to  be  conscious  and  to  derive  its  power 
from  itself  in  consequence  of  the  spirit  inhabiting  it. 

The  amulet  or  grigri  "^  is  a  little  object  carried  on  the  person, 
which  by  a  secret  power,  mysterious,  innate,  and  unconscious, 
is  thought  to  preserve  the  wearer  from  misfortunes,  diseases, 
accidents,  witchcraft,  or  procure  good  luck  in  traveling,  in 
war,  in  the  hunt,  in  fishing,  housekeeping,  and  the  like.^ 

''Amulet,  from  the  Latin  amuletum  (from  amoliri,  "to  ward  oflf'*)  and 
perhaps  from  the  Arab  hamala,  "to  carry."  The  word  grigri  has  been  taken 
from  the  native  language  of  the  western  coast  of  Africa. 

*Reville,  treating  this  subject,  profits  by  the  occasion  to  write:  "A 
blessed  medal  which  is  thought  to  ward  off  accidents,  diseases,  or  death, 
belongs  to  the  class  of  amulets."  {Op.  cit.,  I,  p.  80.)  An  official  specialist 
like  Reville  should  know  that  the  Catholic  Church  has  never  attributed 
to  medals  any  power  in  themselves;  in  blessing  these  little  objects,  her  pur- 
pose is  simply  to  place  at  the  service  of  her  children  the  efficacity  of  her 


180  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

The  talisman  ^  is  rather  an  object  marked  with  cabalistic- 
signs,  intended  to  exercise  a  certain  action  on  things  or  events 
which  changes  their  nature  or  their  course.  It  is  not  worn 
constantly,  like  the  amulet;  often  it  is  placed  over  the  door, 
inside  the  house,  in  the  fields,  at  the  entrance  to  the  village,  on 
the  road. 

This  ensemble  of  various  figures,  of  the  powers  attributed 
to  them,  and  of  the  practices  connected  with  them,  which  con- 
stitutes fetichism,  is  commonly  said  to  be  the  religion  of  the 
Blacks  with  whom  we  are  at  present  concerned.  But  that  is 
a  hasty  generalization  not  altogether  corresponding  with  the 
reality.  There  is  fetichism  among  the  Blacks,  but  that  is 
another  thing:  fetichism  is  not  their  whole  worship,  still  less' 
their  whole  religion. 

At  any  rate,  among  our  African  tribes  of  the  equatorial 
zone,  there  are  very  marked  differences  that  we  will  point  out 
at  once. 

Among  those  of  the  western  coast  from  the  !Niger  to  Angola 

j  and  from  the  coast  almost  to  the  great  lakes,  i.e.,  all  the  zone 

;  covered  by  the  forest,  we  meet  classical  fetichism,  with  its 

diverse  figures,  statuettes,  and  material  representations,  often 

;  publicly  exposed  in  real  sanctuaries  and  still  more  often  hidden 

in  huts  or  concealed  in  out-of-the-way  places. 

On  the  eastern  coast  and  to  the  south  of  the  vast  country 
occupied  by  the  Bantus,  these  statue  fetiches  disappear  or  at 
least  they  are  rare.  Wliy  ?  Must  we  see  in  that  fact  an  ancient 
and  prolonged  influence  of  the  Semitic  element;  or  is  this 
relative  immateriality  of  worship  inherent  in  the  particular 
nature  of  these  people;  or,  as  Livingstone  remarked,  do  the 
open  countries  lead  men  to  a  more  spiritual  religion  while  the 
great  forest  leads  them  to  idolatry  ?  The  problem  has  not  been 
solved,  but  the  fact  exists. 

own  prayers,  to  recall  by  these  symbols  the  idea  of  God  and  the  saints,  and 
to  inspire  in  those  who  piously  wear  them  dispositions  capable  of  drawing 
down  divine  grace  upon  them.  The  medal  has  value  only  as  a  memorial 
and  symbol  to  lead  men's  spirit  toward  God. 

"  From  the  Arab  telsam,  "magical  figure" ;  in  Greek,  rkXeana. 

t 


WOESHIP  181 

Here  is  another  fact  that  will  doubtless  prove  surprising. 
Among  the  Negrillos,  although  many  groups  live  in  the  equa- 
torial forest,  we  do  not  find  a  sanctuary  nor  a  fetich-hut  nor 
a  statuette :  barely  a  few  amulets — generally  three  little  pieces 
of  wood  fastened  about  the  neck  or  wrist — and  a  few  ' 'specifics" 
kept  in  the  encampment  in  bark  boxes  in  order  to  preserve  the 
people  from  certain  diseases,  to  give  them  a  successful  hunt, 
to  ward  off  any  possible  accidents,  to  make  them  invisible,  and 
so  forth.  The  forest  is  their  temple,  their  wretched  huts  are 
only  temporary  shelters  in  their  perpetual  wanderings. 

There  is  still  another  curious  fact  to  note.  These  Negrillos 
firmly  believe  in  the  survival  of  souls  and  also  practice  a  certain 
worship  of  the  dead,  but  one  much  less  characteristic  than  that 
found  among  the  Bantus. 

They  also  pretend  to  have  no  public  or  secret  worship  of 
spirits  and  all  their  homage  seems  to  be  gathered  about  him 
whom  they  consider  Master  of  all  things;  who  gave  them  (with 
necessary  restrictions)  the  forest  and  the  fruits  that  it  produces 
and  the  animals  it  shelters,  him  who  communicates  life  and 
sends  death,  who  follows  them  in  their  encampments,  who 
comes  to  visit  them  (sometimes  killing  one  of  their  number), 
whom  they  try  to  escape  by  hiding  far  from  the  places  that 
he  has  stricken.  Yet  at  the  return  of  the  seasons,  they  feel 
obliged  to  pay  homage  to  him  by  the  sacrifice  of  certain  fruits 
on  a  new  fire.^^ 

The  Bantus,  on  the  contrary,  leave  God  in  the  background 
of  their  worship.  They  have  more  or  less  complicated  practices 
to  influence  the  tutelary  spirits  and  the  genii,  to  get  rid  of  evil 
spirits  or  neutralize  their  actions;  but  their  real  cult  is  the 
family  and  tribal  worship  of  the  ancestral  manes.  For  these 
reasons,  we  find,  on  the  whole,  the  expression  manism  or  super- 1^) 
naturism  more  appropriate  to  characterize  their  religion  than 
any  of  the  terms  mentioned  above — fetchism,  animism,  or 
naturism. 

"  Le  Roy,  r/ie  Pt/s^mies. 


182  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

III.    The  Priesthood 

In  all  religions  are  certain  functions,  ceremonies,  rites  whicli 
are  not  and  can  not  be  performed  indifferently  by  all.  Between 
tbe  world  in  which  we  live  and  the  higher  world  with  which 
religion  connects  us,  there  must  be  intermediaries:  hence  the 
priesthood,  i.e.,  an  order  of  men  charged  with  exercising  sacred 
functions  and  the  care  of  sacred  things. 

Our  primitive  religions  are  no  exception.  But  it  is  easy  to 
understand  that  we  must  not  expect  them  to  have  a  defined  and 
learned  organization  such  as  the  religions  of  civilized  nations. 
By  way  of  compensation,  perhaps  we  shall  find  among  them  the 
true  answer  to  a  question  often  asked  and,  like  all  religious 
questions,  answered  in  a  great  variety  of  ways :  whence  comes 
the  priesthood,  whence  the  priest? 

In  the  first  place,  these  terms  priesthood  and  'priest  contain 
an  indication  of  the  true  answer.  The  sacerdotal  priest,  if  we 
may  so  speak,  is  the  ancient  charged  with  sacred  functions :  in 
Greek,  irpea^vTepos',  in  Arabic,  scheih;  in  Swahili  and  the 
neighboring  languages,  mzee. 

In  fact,  the  true  sacred  functions,  those  constituting  the  reg- 
ular and  ordinary  worship,  those  forming,  as  it  were,  the  basis 
of  all  others,  relate,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  organization  of  the 
family ;  they  are  performed  by  the  "ancient,"  the  patriarch,  the 
head  of  the  house. 

Among  the  IN'egrillos  this  is  a  general  fact,  so  far  as  can  be 
observed  up  to  the  present.  It  is  the  same  with  the  Bantus 
and,  we  may  add,  throughout  Africa.  And  here  again  we  find 
confirmation  in  the  testimony  of  Major  A.  G.  Leonard,  with 
this  difference,  that  in  the  Niger  Delta  the  head  of  the  family 
uses  greater  care  than  elsewhere  in  preparing  his  eldest  son  to 
succeed  him  in  his  office.  ^^ 

Worship  is,  then,  above  all  a  family  affair,  and  the  minister 
of  worship  is  the  head  of  the  family.  He  is  also  best  situated 
to  conduct  the  necessary  relations  with  the  world  beyond  and 

"Leonard,  op.  cit,  p.  394. 


WORSHIP  183 

to  give  tlie  manes  the  satisfaction  they  ask  when,  at  the  death 
of  members  of  the  family,  they  pass  into  the  other  life  or  to 
recall  their  memory  when  they  return  during  the  sleep  of  those 
who  remain. 

The  head  of  the  family  knows  what  is  to  be  done  when  a 
child  is  born  in  his  house ;  when  it  is  time  to  give  him  a  name ; 
when  there  is  need  to  preserve  him  from  the  countless  evil 
influences  that  might  cross  his  path,  to  subject  him  to  the 
needful  initiations,  to  have  him  marry;  when  a  misfortune 
is  threatening;  when  a  journey  is  to  be  commenced;  when  the 
success  of  the  hunt  must  be  assured;  when  there  is  need  to 
protect  the  crops ;  and  when  death  visits  the  house. 

The  head  of  the  family  naturally  finds  himself  designated 
as  the  minister  of  religion  or  the  necessary  and  ordinary  inter- 
mediary between  this  visible  world  and  that  invisible  one 
which  dominates  our  human  destiny. 

He  is  also  the  physician  of  his  house,  treating  his  children 
when  they  are  ill,  and  sometimes  curing  them.  In  Africa,  as 
in  all  primitive  societies,  the  functions  of  priest  and  physician 
are  found  thus  combined.  The  same  word  which  signifies  priest 
and  curer  (fumu)  in  certain  tribes,  as  among  the  Wa-rundi 
and  the  Wa-nyanwezi,  means  chief  and  ancient  in  many  other 
languages.  ^2  As  sickness  is  often  due  either  to  the  evil  influence 
of  spirits  or  to  the  mysterious  forces  of  nature,  the  duty  of  the 
priest-physician  will  be  to  combat  these  influences  by  their 
opposites,  these  forces  by  other  contrary  forces.  He  often  suc- 
ceeds; many  of  these  specialists  obtain  results  that  can  not 
be  doubted,  by  means  of  simples  which  they  know,  of  recipes 
and  processes  they  employ.  But  it  rarely  happens  that  the 
real,  operative  remedy  is  not  surrounded  by  ceremonies  or 
practices  that  give  it  a  certain  religious  or  magical  character. 
In  Urundi  the  healer  wears  a  broad  band  of  cloth  about  his 
head  and  has  the  patient  wear  a  similar  one.  Each  time  this 
physician  administers  his  remedies  or  goes  to  look  for  them 
in  the  woods,  he  must  put  on  this  band.     In  other  places  the 

"Van  der  Burgt  {Diet,  franc,  kirundi,  art.  "Pretre")  derives  fumu 
from  Ku-fumura,  "to  administer  remedies,  to  perform  sacred  functions." 


184  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

physician  wears  a  liorii  fastened  above  his  forehead  by  means 
of  the  same  band  as  a  distinctive  sign. 

Elsewhere  the  paraphernalia  is  much  more  complicated:  the 
physician  is  covered  with  special  ornaments;  he  wears  amulets 
that  keep  injurious  influences  in  awe;  he  carries  the  paws  of 
wild  animals,  bones,  skins,  and  horns  filled  with  specifics;  he 
brandishes  the  tail  of  a  hippopotamus  or  some  other  powerful 
beast:  and  all  this  apparatus  inspires  fear  and  confidence  in 
the  beholder. 

Wherever  the  Negrillos  are  found,  they  are  celebrated  for 
the  art  of  curing,  and  many  rival  chiefs  keep  one  of  them  near 
in  this  capacity.  "As  the  Whites  know  all  the  things  of  the 
sea,"  a  "scholar''  of  the  African  world  said  one  day,  "so  the 
A-koa  know  all  the  hidden  things  of  the  earth  and  woods.'' 
These  doctors'  formulas  or  recipes  are  numerous,  and  each  one 
has  his  own.  Generally  they  make  use  of  plants,  little  pieces 
of  wood,  leaves,  or  bark — in  powder,  infusions,  lotions,  dissolved 
ashes,  applications,  inhalations,  ingestions,  etc. 

They  also  understand  cupping,  incisions,  the  sweat  bath,  and 
the  treatment  of  pain  by  means  of  a  heated  stick  or  a  red-hot 
iron.  Several  of  these  practices,  notably  the  sweat  bath,  serve 
also  to  purify  the  patient  from  certain  stains  as,  for  instance, 
those  contracted  in  funeral  ceremonies. 

It  is  but  just  that  there  should  be  a  fee,  sometimes  a  rather 
high  one;  but  it  is  consoling  to  know  that  if  the  patient  dies, 
the  physician  gives  it  back  and  receives  nothing. ^^ 

Under  exceptional  circumstances  the  head  of  the  family, 
as  priest-physician,  may  acquire  a  reputation  that  raises 
him  above  the  ordinary.  He  will  be  celebrated,  for  instance, 
in  the  art  of  interpreting  dreams,  in  predicting  the  future,  and 
the  event  will  show  that  he  is  right.  He  will  see  at  a  distance, 
and  witnesses  will  confirm  what  he  says.  He  will  cure  desperate 
cases.  He  will  summon  the  rain,  and  the  rain  will  come.  In 
short,  in  some  exceptional  situation  his  prestige  will  increase 
and  his  authority  will  be  strengthened.  If  to  this  savoir-faire 
he  adds  some  ambition,  he  will  under  favoring  circumstances 
become  a  high  chief. 

"Van  der  Burgt,  art.  "Guerir." 


WOESHIP  185 

In  several  African  tribes  these  two  functions  are  combined 
in  the  same  man:  the  functions  of  political  chief  and  of  relig- 
ious chief.  At  times  a  veritable  organization  maintains  itself 
for  a  considerable  time :  but  among  the  Blacks  it  can  not  endure 
indefinitely.  ISTothing  endures  in  that  country;  and  as  nature 
covers  everything  with  her  invincible  vegetation,  so  time  levels 
the  institutions  that  seemed  most  strongly  established. 

Although  the  political  chief  always  has  a  certain  religious 
character,  ordinarily  the  public  functions  of  worship  are  re- 
served to  special  dignitaries  who  occupy  in  relation  to  the 
people  the  place  which  the  head  of  the  family  occupies  in  his 
own  house.  As  there  is  family  worship,  there  is  also  public 
worship.  The  latter  is  addressed  to  the  manes  of  the  ancestral 
founders  of  the  tribe.  It  takes  place  at  stated  periods 
and  also  on  the  occasion  of  certain  anniversaries,  when  an 
epidemic  threatens,  when  there  is  lack  of  rain,  when  a  public 
misfortune  has  fallen  on  the  country,  and  when  a  war  is  about 
to  begin. 

As  might  be  supposed,  all  the  chiefs  do  not  have  the  same 
religious  aptitude  nor  the  same  tastes.  Some  are  completely 
indifferent.  But  we  also  find  that  religious  matters  by  their 
nature,  dispositions,  and  interest,  without  speaking  of  other 
circumstances,  tend  to  become  a  professional  career.  Often  in 
a  dream  the  religious  dignitaries  receive  the  revelation  of  their 
vocation.  At  other  times  they  are  selected  and  trained  in 
special  schools  by  a  relative  or  a  noted  sorcerer.  A  mysterious 
illness,  a  possession,  or  some  other  personal  event  may  serve 
to  single  them  out  and  set  them  before  the  people.  In  this 
way  arise  the  "seers,"  "diviners,"  "healers,"  "charmers,"  "rain- 
makers." And  thus  we  imperceptibly  reach  a  religious  category 
that  is  no  longer  family  or  tribal  worship. 

It  is  to  these  specialists  that  one  has  recourse  in  difficult 
cases,  when  there  is  need  to  interpret  a  dream,  to  build  or 
consecrate  either  a  sanctuary  or  a  fetich,  to  secure  charms, 
amulets,  or  remedies,  to  exorcise  a  "possessed"  person,  to  pre- 
side over  the  initiations  of  youth,  to  offer  sacrifices,  to  summon 


186  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

the  rain,  to  enact  new  prohibitions  or  remove  certain  others, 
to  baffle  the  snares  of  sorcerers  and  their  witchcraft,  and  to 
combat  the  black  magic. 

Here  we  touch  upon  a  third  category  that  must  not  be  con- 
fused with  the  other  two.  Whereas  the  heads  of  the  families 
or  tribes  are  always  respected  in  their  religious  capacity,  and 
the  diviners,  healers,  exorcists,  and  other  specialists  of  that  sort 
enjoy  an  authority  and  confidence  proportioned  to  their  success, 
there  is  no  one  more  dreaded,  hated,  and  generally  more  crim- 
inal than  the  conjurers  or  "sorcerers"  properly  so  called. 

The  word  by  which  they  are  designated  in  each  tribe  must 
never  be  lightly  pronounced.  It  constitutes  the  gravest  accusa- 
tion that  can  be  made  against  any  one.  When  we  treat  of  magic, 
we  will  return  to  the  role  of  these  persons  on  the  border  of 
religion  who  occupy  so  considerable  a  place  in  Africa  and 
elsewhere. 

In  the  list  of  the  agencies  of  worship,  mention  must  be  made 
of  the  closed  or  secret  societies  which  have  so  great  an  influence 
on  the  religious  and  social  life  of  these  people.  They  seem 
to  be  found  in  every  part  of  Africa. 

The  chief  aims  of  these  institutions,  which  naturally  vary 
according  to  the  district,  appear  to  be  to  maintain  the  customs 
of  the  tribe,  to  issue  unquestioned  orders  in  the  name  of  a 
religious  or  magical  authority,  to  make  the  women  obey  and 
work,  as  also  the  slaves,  the  children,  and  all  the  profane,  to 
allow  the  dignitaries  of  these  societies,  who  are  also  the  political 
and  religious  c£iefs,  to  meet  in  secret  committee,  adopt  decisions 
that  must  be  known  to  no  one  outside,  free  themselves  from 
those  who  embarrass  them,  and  to  acquire  whatever  advantages 
they  wish. 

What  renders  these  associations  formidable  is  that  the  pen- 
alties imposed  may  be  terrible ;  whoever  is  condemned  to  death 
by  them  will  not  escape.  He  will  disappear  in  some  manner 
and  no  one  will  ever  know  who  struck  him  down.  These  execu- 
tions are  frequent  and  explain  why  the  secret  societies  in  Africa 
often  exercise  a  dreadful  tyranny. 


WOESHIP  187 

Let  it  suffice  for  us  to  mention  tliem  here.  As,  in  variable 
proportion,  they  are  related  as  much  to  magic  and  political  life 
as  to  religion,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  describe  them  later  on. 

All  these  agencies  of  the  African  religions  are  generally 
assimilated  in  the  accounts  of  travelers  and  confused  under 
the  same  name  of  ^^sorcerers"  or  "fetichers."  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  this  confusion  of  ideas  is  not  just. 

The  head  of  the  family  in  his  capacity  of  religious  chief 
performs  a  sacred  ministry  that  may  truly  be  called  sacerdotal : 
he  is  an  intermediary,  a  qualified  intermediary,  between  the 
children  for  whom  he  is  responsible  on  earth,  and  the  invisible 
world  on  which  they  and  he  depend  and  toward  which  they 
are  all  advancing. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  village  chief  and  the  chief  of 
the  tribe,  who  is,  after  all,  only  the  chief  of  an  enlarged  family, 
whether  he  "officiates"  himself  or  whether  the  national  rites, 
as  ordinarily  happens,  are  performed  by  a  special  minister, 
qualified  for  the  purpose  and  acting  in  the  capacity  of  inter- 
cessor and  intermediary. 

'Nor  is  it  altogether  the  case  of  a  specialist  who  can  be  called 
physician,  healer,  diviner,  seer,  exorcist,  charmer,  magician, 
rain-maker.  Religion  is  mixed  with  science  and  superstition 
in  variable  proportions  difficult  to  establish.  Moreover,  the 
practitioner  who  does  not  fill  all  these  functions  at  the  same  time, 
is  not  an  ordinary  and  regular  minister  of  worship.  He  acts 
on  request  and  gives  his  consultations,  with  a  recompense  or 
fee,  either  in  favor  of  particular  persons  or  for  families,  vil- 
lages, or  other  groups.  This  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  a  function, 
but  a  profession. 

We  must  add,  however,  that  often  in  the  black  world  the  two 
offices  of  religious  minister,  in  the  more  exact  sense  of  the  term, 
and  of  practitioner  of  occult  things  are  held  by  the  same 
person.  Some  of  these  men  have  a  great  reputation  and  people 
come  from  afar  to  visit  them. 

Quite  different  are  the  "sorcerers"  or  "wizards'^  who  by 
their   secret   practices   and   criminal   relations   with   the   bad 


188  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

spirits  cause  a  great  number  of  evils  and  become  a  veritable 
terror. 

Thougb  the  native  words  that  designate  these  different  min- 
isters of  religion,  of  science,  and  of  magic  are  different,  they 
are  often  confounded  with  one  another,  which  is  to  confound 
good  with  evil,  day  with  night.  This  does  not  mean,  never- 
theless, that  in  fact  the  same  individual  is  not  at  the  same  time 
religious  minister  in  the  family,  diviner  or  physician  renowned 
and  esteemed  by  the  public,  and  also  a  sorcerer  of  the  lowest 
type  at  the  service  of  those  who,  with  great  secrecy,  come  to 
ask  him,  in  return  for  his  fees,  to  kill  such  a  relative,  to  carry 
out  a  revenge,  to  destroy  an  adversary,  to  strike  a  certain  per- 
son with  some  misfortune,  or  a  certain  family,  village,  or 
country.  The  negro  mentality  easily  accommodates  itself  to 
\         the  same  person  playing  all  these  roles  that  seem  so  contrary. 

Another  question.  Are  these  various  sorcerers,  fetichers, 
diviners,  exorcists,  healers,  whatever  name  may  be  given  them 
and  whatever  specialty  may  distinguish  them,  really  sincere, 
convinced  ? 

I  think  so.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  they  are  ^^convinced" 
even  when  they  know  beyond  doubt  that  some  of  their  opera- 
tions are  only  pure  phantasmagoria.  In  a  certain  ceremony 
of  Uhuhu  and  Yasi,  for  example,  the  initiated  are  perfectly 
well  aware  that  the  spirit  which  comes  out  of  the  woods  is  a 
man,  and  a  man  whom  they  know.  Yet  they  are  not  indifferent 
towards  him:  far  from  it! 

Nevertheless  that  does  not  prevent  them  from  amusing  them- 
selves and  laughing  at  times  like  true  skeptics  at  all  these 
practices  and  all  these  practitioners — except  the  witchcraft. 
But  this  occasional  skepticism  alternates  with  a  real  faith  in 
the  rites  as  well  as  in  the  operator  when  the  moment  has  come 
to  proceed  to  the  ceremony.  This  is  because  the  mind  of  the 
Black  is  easily  subject  to  suggestion  and  passes  with  strange 
facility  from  one  conviction  to  another  without  completely 
abandoning  the  one  for  the  other.  Their  mentalities  are  full 
of  devices.  Do  not  let  us  suppose  either  that  their  credulity 
after   all   has   nothing  to   rest   on.      These  healers   do   effect 


WOKSHIP  189 

cures ;  these  "seers"  do  discover  hidden  objects ;  these  exorcists 
do  free  persons  possessed;  and  when  a  sorcerer  engages  to  rid 
you  of  an  enemy,  you  can  be  sure — if  you  have  paid  the  price 
• — that  your  enemy  will  disappear.  In  other  words,  there  are 
results,  which  make  the  sorcerers  themselves  believe  in  their 
art. 

The  manner  of  transmitting  the  religious  ministry  properly 
so  called  accentuates  the  family  role  in  the  religion  of  the 
Blacks.  During  the  life  of  the  head  of  the  family,  the  eldest 
son  is  trained  and  gradually  initiated  in  the  functions  which 
he  will  perform  later  on.  There  are  often  special  ceremonies 
for  that  initiation,  with  the  transfer  of  symbolic  objects, 
unctions,  ritualistic  words,  and  chants. 

In  the  country  of  the  Niger  this  eldest  son  is  the  ordinary 
celebrant.  In  the  religious  ceremonies  it  is  he  who  breaks 
the  kola-nut  and  distributes  it,  as  well  as  the  palm-wine,  to 
the  members  present.  He  it  is  also  who  offers  sacrifice, 
cuts  the  necks  of  the  victims,  spreads  their  blood  over  certain 
emblems  or  even  over  the  persons  who  are  present,  and  he 
presides  at  his  father's  funeral  ceremonies.^* 

The  same  is  not  always  true  of  the  occult  sciences.  A  cel- 
ebrated master  will  transmit  his  secrets  to  that  one  of  his 
children  who  appears  to  possess  special  dispositions;  at  times, 
he  receives  disciples  who  come,  with  their  fees,  to  be  initiated 
at  his  school. 

There  are  also  men  whom  the  spirits  themselves  designate 
as  particularly  consecrated  to  them:  either  because  the  soul 
of  some  ancestor  has  come  to  dwell  in  them,  or  some  renowned 
master  lives  again  in  their  person ;  or  because,  for  some  unknown 
reason,  a  spirit  makes  of  this  person  "his  man."  The 
latter  has  only  to  betake  himself  to  the  school  of  some  well- 
known  sorcerer  to  be  accepted. 

In  the  same  way  the  science  of  witchcraft  is  transmitted. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  it  is  done  with  the 
greatest  secrecy,  and  with  initiations  that  belong  to  demonology. 

"  Leonard,  op.  cit.,  p.  345. 


190  THE  EELIGIOlSr  OF  THE  PEIMITIYES 

IV.     The  External  Manifestations  of  Worship 

The  family  character  that  we  have  noted  in  belief,  morality, 
and  the  organization  of  worship,  is  found  in  the  external  man- 
ifestations of  religion.  The  center  of  worship  remains,  so  to 
speak,  confined  to  the  place  occupied  by  the  family,  in  its 
humble  hut  or  its  village. 

In  the  open  country  of  tropical  Africa,  the  Blacks  are  con- 
tent to  build  for  the  manes  of  their  ancestors,  either  in  the 
village  or  outside  it,  little  huts  under  which  they  come  to  make 
their  offerings.  These  huts,  called  "of  the  mzimu"  (i.e.,  of  the 
disembodied  soul),  are  to  be  seen  everywhere.  In  Uganda 
they  assume  more  ample  proportions:  they  are  veritable  sanc- 
tuaries, called  masahoj  in  which  a  sort  of  altar  or  platform 
(mwa-liro)  accommodates  the  bananas  and  the  beer  offered 
there;  live  goats  are  also  brought.^^  In  Urundi  every  vil- 
lage contains  these  minute  huts  (iJcigahiro,  from  Tcugahira,  "to 
give,"  "to  make  an  offering"),  consecrated  to  the  manes  who, 
the  natives  say,  make  frequent  visits  there. -^^ 

According  to  the  idea  of  the  Blacks,  every  family  house  haS; 
its  real  duplicate  in  the  tomb,  and  the  village  has  its  in  the 
cemetery.  Thus  tombs  and  cemeteries  are  sacred  places.  These 
little  booths  are  built  where  the  spirits  of  the  dead  are  fond  of 
coming  to  rest ;  small  altars  are  erected  to  receive  the  offerings ; 
there  they  come  to  make  their  ritualistic  libations  with  prayers. 

Naturally  tfie  funeral  ceremonies  vary  in  different  tribes,  but 
the  idea  is  always  the  same.  Among  several  tribes  of  the  Congo 
the  chief  on  his  death  has  his  house  for  a  tomb :  his  body  is  left- 
there  until  the  roof  falls  in;  then  the  village  is  abandoned. 
In  other  places  the  dead  are  interred  in  separate  graves  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  village;  in  still  other  localities  there  are  real 
cemeteries,  ordinarily  little  groves,  where  the  dead  are  left  and 
where  no  one  ever  enters  except  to  pray  and  to  make  offerings. 

Among  the  Ba-ronga,  in  each  little  clan  governed  by  a  chief 

"Robert  P.  Ashe,  Life  in  Ugcmda, 

"  Van  der  Burgt,  op.  cit.,  art.  "Manes." 


WORSHIP  191 

known  as  tlie  king,  we  find  a  sacred  object  called  mliamha  for 
whicli  tliey  show  a  real  worship. 

"When  the  chief  dies,"  we  are  told,  "they  cut  his  finger-* 
nails  and  toe-nails,  some  hair  from  the  top  of  his  head  and 
from  his  beard,  and  they  mix  all  these  elements  of  his  body 
that  are  capable  of  being  preserved,  with  the  dung  that  comes 
from  the  oxen  killed  at  his  decease.  Thus  they  obtain  a  sort 
of  ball  which  is  then  wrapped  in  strips  of  leather.  At  the 
death  of  this  chief's  successor,  they  make  a  second  ball  which 
they  add  to  the  first  one,  and  this  goes  on  for  centuries.  This 
mysterious  object  is  preserved  in  a  hut  built  for  the  purpose 
behind  the  village  of  the  guardian."  ^^ 

In  other  parts  of  eastern  Africa,  the  natives  make  earthen 
statuettes,  put  therein  parts  of  the  deceased,  such  as  the  nails, 
hair,  skin,  a  little  bone,  and  after  the  requisite  ceremonies, 
these  are  exposed  either  in  the  little  hut  just  mentioned  or  in 
the  house  or  village  or  on  the  outskirts  thereof,  at  the  foot 
of  a  tree. 

On  the  western  coast,  it  is  no  longer  merely  a  statuette  with 
some  elements  taken  from  the  dead,  that  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
hut,  on  a  little  domestic  altar.  For  example,  among  the  Fans, 
a  part  of  the  skull  itself  is  preserved,  painted  red  and  placed 
in  a  box  made  of  bark  on  which  there  is  a  bust  crudely  cut  in 
the  wood. 

In  Loango  and  in  most  of  the  tribes  of  the  great  Gabon 
forest,  real  statues  surmount  the  relics  of  the  defunct,  placed 
in  niches  at  the  back  of  the  public  house  of  the  village.  Before 
these  statues  a  sort  of  altar  is  erected  where  offerings  are  made. 

Elsewhere,  and  sometimes  in  these  same  tribes,  another  cult  > 
is   observed  for   the   fireside   spirit,   which   is   considered   the 
special  protector  of  the  house  and  whose  nature  closely  re- 
sembles the  penates  or  lares  of  the  Latins. 

It  is  rare  not  to  find  hanging  at  the  entrance  of  the  hut  or 
on  the  roof  symbolic  and  protective  talismans  intended  to  bring 
life  and  plenty  and  to  ward  off  all  evils. 

"Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  de  giog.  neufchdteloise,  X,  1899,  Leg  Ba-ronga,  by 
Henri  Junod,  p.  399. 


192  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Among  these  people  of  tlie  western  coast,  the  village,  which 
is  the  family  enlarged,  likewise  has  its  fetich-protector.  In 
the  central  place  or  near  the  hut  of  the  chief,  a  tree  or  bush  is 
planted,  generally  recognized  by  some  special  quality;  at  its 
foot  different  objects  are  placed:  shells,  the  stone  of  various 
fruits,  leopards'  paws,  antelopes'  horns.  Often  there  is  a  little 
hut  in  which  they  pour  out  palm-wine  and  make  offerings  from 
time  to  time. 

In  the  community  house  where  they  gather  to  talk,  the  fire 
is  never  extinguished,  and  in  many  tribes  of  the  great  Gabon 
forest,  you  will  see  real  chapels  where  statues  are  enthroned 
on  the  bones  of  the  ancestors,  before  which  a  regular  worship 
is  conducted. 

At  the  entrance  to  these  villages  or  on  the  paths  leading  to 
them,  you  will  also  find,  especially  in  time  of  war  or  epidemic, 
a  sort  of  lofty  trapeze  from  which  hang  different  fetiches. 

The  tutelary  spirits  of  extra-human  origin  likewise  have 
their  worship  and  their  sanctuaries. 

In  east  Africa,  for  example,  little  huts  are  built  for  them 
at  the  crossroads  and  spread  out  there  are  flour  and  other  gifts. 
Travelers  use  various  practices  to  win  their  favor.  The  same 
is  true  of  hunters.  A  possessed  person,  after  he  is  freed  by 
exorcism,  must  construct  one  of  these  little  huts  for  the  spirit 
that  has  quit  him.  Various  prominent  places,  such  as  promon- 
tories, cliffs,  caves,  lakes,  mountain  summits,  are  also  conse- 
crated to  different  genii. 

In  Urundi,  besides  the  little  huts  intended  for  the  manes 
(ihigahiro) ,  there  is  a  sacred  enclosure  called  ihitabo  (from 
Jcutaha  "to  offer,  to  sacrifice").  It  consists  of  a  round  place 
marked  off  on  the  ground,  from  two  to  three  yards  in  diameter. 
In  the  center  a  ficus  is  planted.  There  fine  white  grass  is  spread 
in  the  form  of  a  bed.  The  national  spirit  is  thus  invited  to 
come  and  rest.  Sick  people  go  there  to  sit  on  this  bed  or  even 
sleep  there  in  order  to  be  cured.  Often  they  bring  the  dying 
there  and  recite  over  them  certain  invocations  intended  to 
discover  the  threatening  cause  of  death.  ^^ 

"Van  der  Burgt,  op.  cit.,  art.  "Temple." 


WORSHIP  193 

In  many  localities  we  find  sacred  groves  in  addition  to  those 
serving  the  purpose  of  cemeteries.  At  stated  times  the  people 
meet  there  in  great  secret  to  perform  certain  ceremonies  and 
offer  sacrifices. 

On  the  western  coast,  as  we  have  frequently  repeated,  the 
worship  finds  material  expression  in  strange  statues.  These 
fetich-statues  must  not  be  confused  with  one  another;  but  it  is 
very  difiicult  to  make  a  just  and  precise  classification.  We 
have  one  thing  to  add  to  what  has  already  been  said. 

Certain  tribes  have  desired  living  fetiches.  Thus  in  thex 
Lower  Congo  the  good-luck  fetich  Zumhi  consists  sometimes  of 
a  bundle  of  charms,  leaves,  egg-shells,  other  shells,  bones,  ani- 
mals' skulls,  dust,  serpents'  heads,  birds'  beaks,  sometimes  a 
graven  wooden  image,  sometimes  a  hen  or  other  animal  into 
which  the  spirit  of  the  Zumhi  has  passed.  This  animal  is  never 
sold  nor  killed  until,  by  reason  of  old  age,  it  is  necessary  to 
transfer  the  charm  elsewhere. 

And  the  worship  of  God  ? 

Nowhere  in  Africa  do  they  make  images  of  God:  we  have 
already  remarked  this  above.  However,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
suppose  there  exists  no  material  trace  of  the  worship  paid  Him. 
To  the  south,  in  the  Zulu  country,  are  little  heaps  of  stones 
piled  up  by  travelers  at  certain  steep  and  dangerous  places. 
Each  one,  as  he  passes,  adds  a  little  stone,  saying:  Tixo, 
ndincede!  (God  help  me!) ;  or  else:  Sipe  amandlal  (Give  us 
strength  ! ) .  Tixo  is,  in  Zulu,  the  name  of  God,  a  term  supposed 
to  be  borrowed  from  the  language  of  the  Hottentots. -^^ 

At  Zanguebar  in  the  fields  are  little  huts  in  which,  they  say, 
they  offer  God  the  first-fruits  of  the  harvest.  One  might  cer- 
tainly collect  various  testimonials  to  show  that  the  worship  of 
the  ''Master  of  the  sky  and  earth"  is  not  totally  foreign  to  the 
thought  of  the  Blacks.    Notably  to  Him  they  turn  to  obtain  rain. 

But  what  is  true  and  what  must  be  borne  in  mind  is  that 
nowhere  do  we  find  a  material  figure  of  Him;  because  no  one 
pretends  that  he  can  enclose  God's  influence  in  a  fetich  or  in 

"  Krapf ,  Kaffir-English  Diet. 


194  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

any  amulet  whatsoever;  because  no  hut  or  temple  is  thought 
to  contain  him;  because,  when  they  pay  worship  to  Him,  this 
worship  takes  place  in  the  open  air,  beneath  the  gxeat  sky 
which  He  fills. 

Further   on  we   shall  see   the  nature  of  the  prayers  they< 
address  to  Him  and  the  sacrifices  they  offer  Him. 

But  for  the  worship  as  for  the  belief,  God  remains  in  the^c 
background,  above  and  far  away.  E'earer  and  more  often 
entering  into  the  life  of  the  Black,  are  the  spirits,  genii,  and 
demons;  and  still  nearer,  even  in  the  family,  are  the  manes. 
These  are  the  invisible  beings  that  he  has  especially  to  fear; 
they  are  consequently  the  ones  he  must  honor  and  appease. 

The  I^egrillo  does  concern  himself  about  God.     It  is  funda- 
mentally the  same  feeling  that  leads  him  to  do  so.    Whereas  he 
fears  neither  spirits  nor  ghosts  nor  the  manes,  he  does  fear 
God,  and  has  a  great  dread  of  Him,  and  this  is  why  he  offers  1> 
sacrifices  to  Him,  why  he  flees  from  Him. 

In  our  black  world  fixed  days  must  not  be  looked  for  when 
all  the  people  have  a  holiday  periodically  for  the  celebration 
of  their  worship.  So  far  as  I  know  there  are  never  any  cere- 
monies to  be  performed  on  the  same  day  in  all  the  villages 
or  all  the  different  groups  of  the  tribe.  It  is  at  the  residence 
of  the  principal  chief  or  sovereign,  considered  as  the  father 
of  all  his  subjects — a  father  who  has  all  rights — that  what  we 
might  call  the  social  worship  takes  place ;  it  may  be  to  honor, 
implore,  or  pacify  the  manes  of  the  ancestral  founders  of  the 
tribe ;  or  to  perform  some  extraordinary  ceremony,  for  example, 
a  sacrifice  on  the  occasion  of  a  gxeat  chief's  funeral;  or  to 
ward  off  by  prayers  and  public  ceremonies  some  evils  that 
threaten  all  the  people,  an  epidemic,  a  drought,  a  war. 

Outside  of  that,  each  village  throughout  the  whole  country 
occupied  by  the  tribe  proceeds  on  its  own  account,  and  likewise 
each  house  of  the  village. 

In  other  words,  for  the  external  manifestations  of  worship 
as  in  other  matters  there  is,  properly  speaking,  nothing  cen- 
tralized, organized,  disciplined.  But  with  singular  persistence, 
beliefs,   customs,   and   religious  ceremonies   are  handed  down 


WOESHIP  195 

through  generations  and  we  are  often  astonished  to  find  them 
still  so  much  alive. 

For  the  days  consecrated  to  worship,  the  family  is  the  master 
of  ceremonies:  not  at  determined  periods,  but  on  the  occasion 
of  a  birth,  an  initiation,  a  marriage,  a  death,  or  other  event 
touching  the  family  circle  or  its  head,  or  when  there  is  some 
matter  affecting  a  whole  region,  a  group  of  villages,  or  a  tribe, 
they  pray,  make  their  offerings,  carry  on  their  sacrifices,  and 
perform  ritualistic  ceremonies. 

The  summons  is  given,  according  to  the  case,  by  the  father 
of  the  family,  the  sorcerer,  or  the  chief.  Generally  everybody 
responds. 

In  some  tribes  we  do  find  a  practice  of  abstaining  from  work, 
hunting,  fishing,  traveling,  and  other  such  undertakings,  on 
certain  days  recurring  periodically.  It  seems  that  these  days 
are  taboo.    But  the  practice  is  not  general. 

To  express  his  relation  to  the  supernatural  world  that  dom- 
inates him,  we  shall  find  in  the  primitive's  religion  all  the  feel- 
ings that  vivify  the  most  elevated  religions:  submission,  ven- 
eration, adoration,  expressed  by  the  lowered  and  prostrate 
position  of  the  body;  grief  (which  assumes  special  marks  in 
case  of  mourning — white  paint  covering  the  whole  body  or 
merely  the  forehead,  torn  clothes,  fasting,  etc.)  ;  joy  (indi- 
cated by  certain  ornaments  of  the  body  and  of  the  costume,  by 
dances  and  songs)  ;  purity  or  purification  (obtained  or  sym- 
bolized by  various  means  among  which  we  must  point  out  the 
use  of  lustral  water)  ;  the  desire  of  imitation,  which  creates 
an  additional  affinity  between  man  and  the  object  of  his  wor- 
ship ;  that  sort  of  aspiration  in  man  for  a  visible  and  tangible 
God,  which  results  in  fetichism  and  idolatry. 

This  "need  that  man  feels  of  projecting  and  expressing  his 
impressions,  feelings,  and  convictions"  ^^  creates  the  symbol, 
that  is  to  say  "the  act  or  the  thing  which  by  analogy  represents 
either  the  object  of  belief  or  the  various  shades  of  religious 
feeling."  ^^     The   ensemble  of  symbols   grouped   about   a  re- 

^  Reville,  Prolegomdnes  a  Vhist.  des  religions\,  p.  168. 

'^Ihid.    Symbol,  from  the  Greek  avii^oXov,  an  object  having  a  conven- 


196  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

ligious  idea  or  religious  act  is  a  ritej  and  the  rites  organized 
into  a  recognized  ceremonial  constitute  the  liturgy.  All  this 
we  find,  with  perfect  distinctness,  in  the  various  expressions  of 
the  religious  life  of  our  Blacks. 

They  have  prayer.  If  a  Christian  has  been  able  to  define  ^ 
prayer  as  the  breathing  of  the  soul  in  God^  this  higher  notion 
r  may  be  applied  with  truth  to  the  prayer  usage  of  our  primitives. 
With  them  prayer  is  essentially  a  request.  ^NTot  only  do  they 
pray  for  favors  that  are  in  no  way  spiritual — to  keep  away  a 
present  or  dreaded  evil — but  also  to  satisfy  their  revenge,  to 
seize  the  goods  of  another  without  being  caught,  or  to  kill  an 
enemy.  There  are  prayers  that  issue  spontaneously  from  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment,  according  to  the  circumstances  and 
the  favors  asked;  and  there  are  prayers  consecrated  by  usage, 
formulas  that  the  ministers  of  worship  must  recite  on  certain 
occasions.     The  prayer  often  expresses  itself  in  a  sort  of  wish,  y 

Thus  one  of  the  Wa-nika,  when  told  of  the  birth  of  a  friend's 
child,  says :  Mulungu  amulaye  (May  God  forget  the  child,  may 
it  live).  Mulungu  ni  amulaye  hai,  apate  huJcala  muzirna 
(Well,  God  forget  him,  that  he  may  become  strong  and  well).^^ 

Ordinarily  prayer  appears  under  the  form  of  a  request, 
imprecation,  or  conjuration,  according  to  circumstances.  It 
is  spoken  or  sung,  and  is  addressed  to  the  manes,  the  spirits, 
and  even  to  God.  It  is  God  they  invoke  to  guard  the  life  of 
the  child,  to  have  good  crops,  to  obtain  rain. 

In  the  course  of  the  ceremonies,  offerings,  and  sacrifices, 
there  are  always  prayers  indicating  the  purpose  thereof.  These 
prayers  are  generally  cabalistic  utterances,  obscure  words  or 
phrases,  allusions  difficult  for  the  European  mind  to  grasp, 
archaisms  that  come  from  distant  ages  whose  meaning  has  been 
lost  but  which  have  been  faithfully  preserved  and  are  consid- 
ered the  more  efficacious  the  less  they  are  understood. 

By  way  of  example,  here  are  some  formulas  of  prayer  and 
conjuration  gathered  among  the  Wa-pokomo,  who  inhabit  the 
right  bank  of  the  Tana  (eastern  Africa).    The  Mganga  (priest) 

tional  significance  and  serving  as  a  rallying  sign;  rite  from  the  Latin  ritiis, 
group  of  ceremonies;   liturgy,  from  the  Greek  Xeirovpyla,    "public  service." 
"Taylor,  Giryama  Vocabulary,  p.  81. 


WORSHIP  197 

begins,  when  the  sacrifice  has  been  offered,  and  the  people  answer 
in  chorus. ^^ 

O  God,  we  ask  Thee! 
O  manes,  we  ask  you ! 
O  ancestors,  we  ask  you! 
God,  grant  us  peace! 

Grant  us  tranquillity !     And  may  the  blessing  come  ! 
He  who  bewitches  our  village,  may  he  die ! 
He  who  utters  an  evil  spell  against  us,  may  he  die ! 
He  who  says  this  village  is  rich,  these  men  are  numerous,  he 
who  speaks  thus  is  a  jealous  one,  may  he  die ! 
We  also  ask  for  some  fish,  may  the  fish  come ! 
We  ask  for  some  ngoo  (fish),  may  the  ngoo  come ! 
We  ask  for  some  pfezi  (another  fish),  may  the  pfezi  come ! 
Thus  eating,  let  us  eat  in  peace ! 

This  woman  is  ill.  O  God,  give  her  peace  (health),  to  her, 
and  to  her  village,  and  to  her  children,  and  to  her  man ;  may 
she  get  up,  fly  to  work,  take  care  of  the  kitchen ;  may  happi- 
ness return,  may  it  come  from  the  other  bank,  may  it  come 
from  the  other  bank !  ^^ 

The  following  prayers  we   take  from   Dr.    Krapf's   l^ika- 
English  Dictionary. 

For  a  sick  person,  ^ 

Thou  God!  And  the  Master!  I  say  to  Thee:  Free  this 
person  from  his  sickness.  We  implore  Thee,  God,  to  relieve 
this  person  and  cure  him ! 

When  going  to  cultivate  a  neiu  piece  of  ground. 

O  Thou,  God,  I  beg  of  Thee !  I  am  going  to  cultivate  this 
field.  Very  well,  it  is  in  order  to  have  things  to  eat,  that  I 
may  have  life  and  health.  Come,  manes !  I  till  this  field 
that  the  grain  may  spring  up  abundantly  and  that  I  may 
harvest  it  when  it  is  ripe. 

Then  he  spits  on  his  hoe  and  says: 

May  my  hoe  dig  deep  into  the  wet  ground. 

"  Extract  from  a  Song  of  the  Pokomos,  F.  Wurtz  in  Zeitsohrift  fur  afri- 
Jcanische  Sprachen,  Vol.  I,  p.  324. 

^The  whole  life  of  the  Wa-pokomo  clings  to  their  river  (Tana).  They 
fish  in  it  and  cultivate  the  fertile  land  along  its  shores. 


198  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

When  going  07i  a  journey. 

Thou,  God,  who  art  on  high !  Behold,  I  am  setting  out  on  a 
journey.  Thou,  God,  protect  me.  When  I  am  trading,  may 
I  make  profit!  Have  mercy  on  me,  that  I  may  return  safe 
and  sound ! 

For  rain. 

Thou,  God,  give  us  rain!  We  are  in  a  wretched  state,  we 
are  toiling  hard ;  and  we  are  Thy  children.  Give  us  clouds 
full  of  rain  so  that  the  people  may  have  food,  we  beg  Thee, 
O  Thou,  God,  Thou,  our  Father !  ^^ 

Erom  these  testimonials,  among  many  others,  the  reader  will 
judge  whether  the  God  thus  addressed  is  not  more  living,  more 
personal,  and,  in  short,  more  real  than  that  spoken  of  by  A. 
Eeville  and  his  disciples. 

The  Bantus  have  hymns  or  religious  chants  with  dances  ac- 
companied by  the  clapping  of  hands  and  stamping  of  feet,  the 
beating  of  tam-tams,  and  the  noise  of  various  musical  instru- 
ments. These  dances  ordinarily  take  place  at  night  by  the  light 
of  the  moon  or,  if  in  the  daytime,  in  large  huts.  The  dancers 
always  require  special  ornaments. 

Like  the  formulas  referred  to  above,  the  h^anns,  to  which  they 
attribute  an  operative  power,  must  be  very  ancient.  Their 
meaning  even  escapes  us  to-day  and,  moreover,  when  the  Blacks 
use  them,  it  is  evident  that  they  are  little  concerned  with 
understanding  them.  In  the  extraordinary  religious  exaltation 
which  they  experience,  they  attend  rather  to  following  the 
rh^i^hm  and  to  preserving  the  melody.  Most  of  these  airs,  in 
their  simplicity  and  savage  energy,  repeated  with  earnest  con- 
viction, are  extremely  impressive  and  form  a  part  of  scenes  that 
will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  have  witnessed  them. 

We  do  not  know  that  there  is  need  of  returning  to  certain 
symbolic  marks  and  practices,  whose  origin  is  more  or  less  re- 
ligious or  magical.  There  are  many  of  them,  but  the  natives 
themselves  are  often  ignorant  of  their  meaning. 

«Krapf,  op.  cit.,  p.  284. 


WORSHIP  199 

We  have  already  seen  that  each  tribe  is  distinguished  by  a 
special  tattoo  traced  on  his  forehead,  face,  or  some  other  part 
of  the  body;  by  filed,  cut,  or  broken  teeth;  by  malformations  of 
the  lips ;  by  earrings,  bracelets,  necklaces,  rings  on  their  arms 
or  legs,  girdles,  or  an  entire  costume,  not  to  speak  of  the  hair,  the 
form  of  the  spear,  the  bow,  and  especially  the  shield.  When  a 
European  arrives  in  Africa,  he  generally  finds  all  the  Blacks 
alike  and  thinks  that  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  them.  The 
native  not  only  distinguishes  them,  but  he  can  tell  at  once  to 
what  tribe  and  what  family  a  stranger  belongs.  The  E'egrillos 
are  still  more  acute;  they  recognize  a  man  by  his  footprints 
along  the  little  paths  of  the  forest.  In  Loango  there  are  tribes 
that  mark  on  their  sticks,  clothes,  dwellings,  and  also  on  their 
ritualistic  necklaces  and  girdles,  signs  which  we  must  admit  are 
real  hieroglyphic  writing.  ^^ 

Certain  colors  have  likewise  something  sacred  about  them. 
Karely  is  a  ceremony  performed  without  the  celebrant  and  the 
others  present  being  painted.  Throughout  western  Africa  they 
employ  a  paint  made  of  red  wood  mixed  in  palm  oil,  for  their 
sacrifices.  With  this  they  also  paint  a  new-born  child,  its 
mother,  the  sick  who  are  about  to  be  treated,  as  also  the  skulls 
of  the  dead,  which  are  cut  off  and  kept  for  domestic  worship. 

White  is  the  color  of  the  manes.  It  is  used  in  funeral  cere- 
monies, in  the  dances  at  the  initiation  of  youth,  and  in  all  cir- 
cumstances where  the  spirits  of  the  dead  are  directly  concerned. 
This  paint  is  made  of  white  chalk  or,  lacking  that,  of  tapioca 
flour,  with  which  are  often  mixed  the  powdered  bones  of  the 
dead.  :N'aturally  the  stronger,  richer,  more  intelligent  and  pow- 
erful the  dead  man  has  been,  the  more  eagerly  his  '-'powder"  is 
sought  after.  In  Gabon,  minute  precautions  had  to  be  taken 
to  prevent  the  remains  of  the  first  bishop,  Monsignor  Bessieux, 
from  being  disinterred  during  the  night  and  employed  by  the 
natives  for  this  purpose,  which  the  holy  man  had  not  foreseen. 
This  custom  of  composing  a  specific  from  the  bones  of  the  dead 
is  known  all  through  Bantu  Africa.  Kecently  an  explorer  re- 
turned to  Paris  after  a  trip  through  the  Gabon  forest,  which 
is  occupied  by  the  Pans.  Among  the  impressions  of  his  jour- 
»"  Dennett,  op.  cit.,  p.  71. 


200  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

ney,  he  recounted  to  a  reporter  that  one  day  he  had  arrived 
in  a  village  at  the  very  moment  when  the  women  were  about  to 
be  eaten:  "Already/'  he  said,  "they  were  covered  with  flour 
as  we  prepare  a  cutlet  for  the  frying-pan."  The  journalist 
gravely  reported  the  incident  in  the  columns  of  his  gTeat  daily. 
But  the  women  whom  this  gentleman  thought  were  all  ready  to 
be  fried,  were  simply  returning  from  a  funeral  and  the  flour  was 
their  mourning  costume. 

Special  attention  should  be  given  to  a  form  of  blessing  that  is 
quite  widespread.  In  Gabon  it  is  called  ihoto.  When  parents 
bid  good-by  to  their  child,  when  a  chief  parts  from  his  guest, 
or  when  any  one  receives  a  valuable  present,  he  takes  the  head 
or  the  hand  of  the  child,  the  guest,  or  the  giver,  saving:  iboto  ^ 
(blessing)  !  At  the  same  time  his  lips  emit  a  rapid  breath  along 
with  a  little  saliva. 

"In  Loango,"  says  K.  E.  Dennett,  "a  sale  becomes  definite 
after  the  transaction  has  been  accomplished  in  the  presence 
of  witnesses  and  the  seller  has  'blessed  it.'  He  lifts  his  hands 
to  his  arm-pits,  and  then  throws  them  out  towards  the  buyer, 
and  breathes  or  blows  over  the  thing  sold.  This  is  called  Ku 
vana  mula,  to  give  the  breath,  and  is  equivalent  to  saying, 
'God  bless  thee.'  "  ^' 

In  central  Africa  between  the  Tanganyika  and  the  Bang- 
weolo,  the  Wa-bemba  have  a  similar  confidence  in  the  blessing 
of  the  father,  mother,  or  chief.  The  Wa-bemba  when  setting 
out  on  a  journey,  in  the  most  solemn  circumstances  of  life,  or  in 
sickness,  never  fail  to  ask  it.  The  ancient  spits  a  little  saliva 
on  them,  then  rubs  them  with  his  hand,  saying:  "May  God 
cure  you !  May  he  protect  you  during  your  journey !  May  he 
give  you  to  eat !     May  he  bring  you  back  in  good  health !"  ^^ 

The  Massai,  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Bantu  family,  make 
great  use  of  this  blessing. 

Lastly,  all  our  populations  practice  aspersions  and  purifica- 
tions with  lustral  water,  in  which  they  mix  certain  herbs  pre- 
pared with  ritualistic  formulas. 

"Dennett,  p.  48. 

**  Dupont,  Oramm.  bemba. 


WOESHIP  301 

An  offering  for  a  religious  purpose  is  very  common.  It  is 
connected  with  the  sacrifice  and  the  sacrifice  recalls  the  com- 
munion. 

Here  we  come  to  what  Keinach  calls  "the  crucial  point  of  all 
cult,  the  central  bond  between  man  and  deity."    And  he  adds : 

"In  this  respect  it  is  comparable  to  prayer ;  but  whereas  the 
latter  is  a  spiritual  appeal,  the  former  entails  the  employment 
of  a  material  substance  forfeited  or  destroyed  in  the  sacrificial 
act/'  29 

In  fact,  sacrifice  is  as  universal  as  religion.  In  Africa  we 
find  it  everywhere,  notably  among  those  tribes  dealt  with  in  this 
volume.  Like  prayer  and  the  offering,  it  is  addressed  to  the 
manes,  the  spirits,  and  to  God  Himself. 

We  might  develop  this  subject  endlessly  but  we  must  be  sat- 
isfied with  citing  a  few  examples. 

In  the  regions  of  Gabon,  Congo,  and  Angola,  as  well  as  in 
the  center,  south,  north,  and  on  the  eastern  coast,  on  the  high- 
ways, the  river  banks,  or  the  lake  shores,  there  are  places  rec- 
ognized as  being  consecrated  by  a  supernatural  influence.  Here 
a  celebrated  man  died  or  met  with  some  unusual  incident. 
There  some  inexplicable  event  happened  which  was  attributed 
to  the  action  of  a  spirit ;  in  another  place  it  would  seem  that 
they  wished,  under  that  special  point  of  the  sky,  to  render  a 
sort  of  homage  to  the  sovereign  Being  who  from  on  high  pre- 
sides over  man's  existence  and  who  can  at  any  moment  take  it 
from  him.  In  these  chosen  places,  every  passer-by,  stray  trav- 
eler, caravan  porter,  or  canoe  paddler,  throws  a  stone,  a  twig,  a 
leaf ;  at  length  the  piles  become  rather  high.  Mounds  are  met 
with  along  all  the  highways  of  the  interior.  In  Gabon  their 
homage  is  directed  in  this  way  toward  Ombwiri,  the  gentus  of 
the  earth,  and  is  intended  to  protect  them  against  the  bad 
tricks  he  might  play  on  them  during  the  journey.  On  the  cara- 
van routes,  the  Wanyanwezi  (eastern  Africa)  have  recourse  to 
the  same  practice  in  honor  of  the  Mzimu  (spirit  of  the  dead). 
And  we  read  in  Decle  that  the  Blacks  of  Tanganyika,  at  the 
pilgrimage   which   they   make   to   the   mountain   of   Fwambo- 

"  Keinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 


202  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

Liamba  at  certain  periods  of  tlie  year,  place  on  a  sort  of  little 
stone  altar  some  sticks  to  wliicli  are  fastened  pieces  of  calico, 
flowers,  or  glass  beads  as  a  homage  to  Leza^  which  is  the  name  of 
God. 

At  harvest  time  nearly  everywhere  offerings  are  made  of 
ears  of  sorgum,  maize,  or  rice  in  homage  to  God  or  to  the 
tutelary  spirits  of  the  fields. 

^When  we  were  constructing  the  chapel  of  Mandera  (Zanzi- 
bar)," says  Father  Sacleux,  "one  day  in  the  fields  I  found 
Kingarou,  the  chief,  under  a  shed,  occupied  in  watching  over 
his  ripening  maize.  He  asked  nae  how  the  construction  of  our 
chapel  was  progressing.  I  had  often  explained  its  use,  inviting 
our  neighbors  to  come  there  for  instruction.  Then,  as  I  had 
perhaps  insisted  too  much  on  their  ignorance  of  the  things  of 
God,  he  added:  We  are  not  so  ignorant  as  that.  You  others, 
you  Whites,  make  everything  big:  you  have  spacious  houses 
with  separate  rooms  intended  for  different  purposes,  you  build 
immense  temples  where  there  is  room  for  everyone  at  the 
same  time.  With  us,  who  are  poor  Blacks,  things  are  done  on 
a  small  scale;  but  we  also  build  houses  for  God:  come,  let  me 
show  you  one  of  them.'  And  he  led  me  to  the  entrance  of  the 
field  before  a  little  shed,  consisting  of  a  tiny  roof  of  straw 
resting  on  four  sticks.  He  explained  to  me  that  it  was  there 
they  offered  God  the  first-fruits  of  the  harvest,  adding  that 
they  were  careful  not  to  taste  anything  whatsoever  without 
having  first  made  this  offering.'' 

In  Zanguebar,  and  we  might  say  in  all  Africa,  sacrifices  are 
offered  on  the  graves  by  the  families  of  the  deceased.  A  little 
flour  and  water  is  spread  on  the  ground.  In  some  places,  it  is 
palm-wine  or  beer  with  some  pulp  of  maize  or  sorghum:  thus 
they  ^^r  to  the^  disembodied  souls  the  two  fundamental  ele- 
meiits,  "^ITqiiid  and  solid,  of  daily  food.  Under  other  circum- 
stances some  cocks,  or  even  goats,  sheep,  or  oxen  are  killed  so 
that  their  blood  falls  on  the  grave.  While  this  offering  is  being 
made,  the  dead  are  invited  by  name  to  come  and  partake  of  the 
repast  and  to  carry  it  to  their  friends  who  are  also  designated  by 
name. 

In  Giryama,  at  the  head  of  the  gTave  they  set  a  piece  of 


WOESHIP  203 

carved  wood  for  men ;  for  women  it  is  plain  and  small.  In  the 
one  case,  thej  fasten  pieces  of  linen  to  the  wbod,  in  the  other, 
a  miniature  of  the  national  petticoat.  If  some  of  the  Giryama 
become  indifferent  or  not  very  religious,  their  friends  recall 
them  to  their  duty.  The  diseases  that  may  spring  up,  a  jour- 
ney to  be  undertaken,  a  marriage,  the  birth  of  a  child,  the  death 
of  a  member  of  the  family,  are  all  so  many  occasions  for  the 
practice  of  sacrifice. 

In  Giryama,  when  it  is  time  to  sow  seed,  they  first  grind  a 
few  grains,  and,  early  in  the  morning,  spread  the  flour  before 
the  door  of  the  person  who  is  to  sow,  reciting  a  prayer  in  honor 
of  the  Koma,  or  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  At  the  harvest,  the 
same  ceremony  takes  place  before  the  granary.  When  the 
pomhe  (beer  made  from  sorghum)  is  brewed,  they  pour  a  little 
liquid  at  the  village  gate,  at  the  foot  of  the  consecrated  trees, 
and  on  the  graves,  praying  that  those  who  will  drink  may  go 
quietly  to  sleep  after  becoming  conscientiously  intoxicated, 
without  stirring  up  a  quarrel  or  beating  their  wives.  When  they 
instal  a  forge,  on  the  anvil  they  secretly  offer  a  sacrifice  of 
incense.^^ 

At  ISTyassa,  the  head  of  the  family  or  the  chief  of  the  village 
is  always  sure  to  erect  near  his  habitation  or  in  the  near-by 
woods  a  little  hut  for  prayers  and  sacrifices.  It  is  again  flour 
that  is  poured  out  in  little  heaps  or  sorghum  beer ;  but  other 
offerings  are  also  made  without  counting  the  animal  sacrifice  on 
the  more  solemn  occasions. 

These  offerings  are  poured  into  a  pot  that  is  sunk  into  the 
ground  up  to  the  rim.  The  chief,  who  performs  the  functions 
of  priest,  alone  in  the  consecrated  hut,  offers  prayer  while  the 
people  respond,  singing  and  clapping  their  hands  in  time  to 
the  music.  They  pray  to  have  rain,  to  succeed  in  the  elephant 
hunt,  to  have  peace,  or  to  triumph  in  war. 

Or  again,  as  Mr.  Scott  testifies  in  his  Cijclopcedic  Dictiondrij 
of  the  Mang'anja  Language, 

"The  chief  of  the  village  goes  out  with  his  younger  brethren 
(i.e.,  his  people)  and  his  wives,  who  bring  ^nsima,'  and  fowls, 

*"  W.  F.  Taylor,  Qiryama  Vocabulary,  p.  81. 


204  THE  EELIGIOISr  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

and  perhaps  a  goat  to  go  to  the  thicket  to  the  temple-hut  there 
where  there  is  a  little  house  builded  long  ago ;  the  people  stay 
there  and  clean  away  the  grass  (from  the  sacred  place — 
lambulira),  and  the  chief  answers,  saying:  'God  give  us  rain, 
and  harden  not  thy  heart  against  us,'  and  makes  many  prayers, 
while  all  those  clap  their  hands  'wu!  wu!  wu!'  and  he  prays 
again  and  again,  they  clap  their  hands;  then  they  eat  the 
'nsima,'  the  whole  of  it,  and  the  meat,  some  of  which  they 
place  in  the  house;  the  children  are  all  about  with  the  portion 
of  the  'nsima'  in  their  hands  (lapata !)  ;  and  as  the  elder  people, 
some  of  whom  eat  from  the  'nsengwa'  baskets,  when  they  have 
eaten  they  put  the  baskets  all  together  and  they  are  carried 
away:  other  women  sing  the  hjonn  and  surround  the  thicket 
hedge,  saying — 'May  there  come  sweeping  rain, — sweeping 
down.  The  rain  here  has  been  restricted.  Sweeping  rainP 
(And  other  prayers.)  And  the  rain  comes  in  truth,  and  the 
temple  gatherers  on  their  return  come  back  with  the  rain 
pouring  and  garments  and  bodies  dripping.  Then  the  villagers 
say,  'You  see  it  was  true,  God  was  angry  with  us.'  "  ^^ 

If  any  one  sees  his  ancestors  during  sleep,  it  is  a  sign  that    . 
they  feel  neglected  and  that  they  demand  a  propitiatory  sacri- 
fice, an  i-dini. 

When  a  man  or  a  domestic  animal  is  sick,  if  the  doctor  who 
is  called  conjectures  that  the  ancestors  are  offended  at  not  re-i 
ceiving  their  due,  it  is  at  once  understood  that  a  sacrifice  is 
required. 

If  there  has  been  a  drought,  the  people  go  to  the  chief  and 
say :  "Why  permit  such  a  calamity  ?  Why  not  have  recourse  to 
your  ancestors  ?    Will  you  let  us  die  thus  ?"     Another  sacrifice. 

In  such  a  case  the  following  program  is  carried  out : 

1.  The  kindlings  are  prepared,  consisting  of  chips  of  special 
wood. 

2.  An  animal  is  slaughtered  in  the  middle  of  the  cattle  field 
in  the  evening.  The  blood  is  brought  in  a  basket  to  the  house 
of  the  person  who  dreamed  of  the  ancestors  or  who  is  sick ;  it  is 
placed  in  the  hut,  behind  the  door.  While  carrying  it,  they 
tip  it  so  as  to  spill  a  few  drops  on  the  ground.     All  the  bones 

"  David  C.  Scott,  A  Cyclopedic  Diet,  of  the  Mang'anja  Language. 


WOKSHIP  205 

and  flesh  of  the  animal  are  brought  into  the  same  hut  and  placed 
on  little  branches. 

3.  The  next  day  a  fire  is  made  on  the  spot  where  the  animal 
was  slaughtered.  The  flesh,  except  the  portion  reserved  for  the 
women,  is  brought  from  the  hut  and  placed  on  little  branches 
near  the  fire  or  hung  from  posts  in  the  field.  The  women's 
portion  is  placed  on  the  fire  near  the  calves'  field.  The  first 
part  to  be  offered,  the  fat  that  covers  the  liver,  is  cast  into 
the  fire  and  entirely  consumed.  Then  pieces  of  the  meat  may 
be  roasted  and  eaten  in  the  morning ;  but  most  of  it  is  boiled,  part 
of  it  on  the  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  field,  part  near  the  oxen's 
field,  and  part  near  the  calves'  field.  All  the  meat  thus  boiled 
is  taken  from  the  fire  in  the  evening  and  entirely  eaten  at  the 
same  time  by  the  two  parties,  men  and  women.  The  day  fol- 
lowing, all  the  fat  and  bones,  with  whatever  flesh  and  wood  re- 
mains, are  burned  up  in  the  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  cattle  field. 
The  blood,  if  it  is  not  thrown  on  the  fire,  is  poured  around  the 
palisade  and  inside  of  it. 

The  day  on  which  the  sacrifice  is  eaten,  a  man  is  stationed 
at  the  entrance  to  the  oxen  field  and  another  at  that  of  the 
calves'  field;  all  who  participate  in  the  sacrifice  must  put 
something  in  the  hands  of  one  or  other  of  these  sentries,  say- 
ing: Kanagu!  (May  he  be  at  peace,  may  he  be  propitious),  as 
we  would  say  in  Latin :    Prosit ! 

A  sacrifice  almost  the  same  is  offered  in  the  south  of  Kenia. 
These  Blacks,  who  have  fine  herds  of  oxen,  slay  an  ox,  pour 
its  blood  around  their  pasture,  and  perform  ritualistic  asper- 
sions. 

When  the  fishermen  of  Gabon  catch  the  first  fish  of  the  day, 
they  open  it  carefully,  cut  out  the  entrails,  and  throw  them  into 
the  sea :  thus  are  the  first-fruits  of  the  catch  ofl^ered  to  the  spirit 
of  the  waters.  Canoe  parties,  ascending  the  river  in  their  long 
'^pirogues,"  offer  a  sacrifice  either  at  the  beginning  or  in  the 
course  of  their  journey ;  they  kill  a  hen  so  that  the  blood  flows 
on  the  prow  of  the  "pirogue"  and  falls  into  the  river.  To 
the  north  of  Zangiiebar,  when  they  find  honeycomb,  they  do  not 
fail,  before  eating  it,  to  throw  some  pieces  to  the  four  cardinal 
points  of  the  compass.     Throughout  Africa,  before  taking  any 


206  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

fermented  drink,  palm-wine,  sorghum-beer,  etc.,  they  are  par- 
ticular to  pour  a  little  on  the  ground,  as  a  libation  or  sacrifice. 

The  ISTegrillos  have  no  harvests  because  they  do  no  farming. 
ISTor  have  they  any  cattle.  But  as  they  get  their  living  from  the 
forest,  they  offer  the  first-fruits  of  it  in  a  very  impressive  man- 
ner by  means  of  the  sacrifice  already  described.  On  a  new 
fire  they  burn  the  two  first  nkoula  nuts  of  the  year,  which  two 
young  men  have  ritually  gathered  from  the  top  of  a  tree  and 
have  carried  in  their  mouths  while  descending  head  first.  While 
these  nuts  are  burning,  the  little  men,  dancing  and  singing 
around  the  new  fire,  pray  God  to  continue  to  feed  them.  After 
this,  they  can  eat  the  nuts  of  that  tree  and  all  other  fruits 
that  they  find  in  the  forest. 

In  Kilimanjaro,  I  witnessed  an  interesting  sacrifice.  The 
natives  of  Marangou,  threatened  with  an  invasion  by  those  of 
Kibosho,  killed  a  magnificent  ram  one  evening  and  amidst  dif- 
ferent ceremonies,  songs,  and  prayers,  they  divided  the  animal 
into  four  parts:  one  for  God,  the  tutelary  spirits,  and  the 
manes, — this  part  was  entirely  consumed  by  fire ;  one  that  they 
ate ;  one  that  they  abandoned  to  the  beasts  of  the  earth ;  and  one 
that  they  offered  to  the  birds  of  the  air.  This  was  done, 
they  told  me,  so  that  all  that  lives  might  join  with  them  in  a 
general  alliance.  They  intended  thus  to  associate  themselves 
with  all  the  spirits  and  all  the  mysterious  and  protective  powers 
of  their  country  in  resisting  their  enemy.  I  confess  that  I  found 
such  an  idea  very  elevated  and  impressive. 

We  will  conclude — for  we  could  go  on  indefinitely  citing  these 
facts — by  an  abridged  description  of  what  J.  M.  Van  der  Burgt 
of  the  White  Fathers,  calls  the  ceremony  of  the  "great  rite'^ 
among  the  Wa-rundi.  Neighboring  Negrillos  have  the  same 
ceremony;  in  fact,  they  seem  to  have  originated  it.  It  takes 
place  in  all  manner  of  circumstances :  at  the  birth  of  twins,  for 
a  grave  illness,  for  a  marriage,  etc.  This  "great  rite''  consists 
in  the  homage  rendered  to  the  sacred  lance  of  Kiranga,  one  of 
the  higher  spirits  of  the  Kundi  triad  (Inana,  Kikiramba,  and 
Eiangombe).  This  spear  is  of  the  ordinary  shape  with  half  of 
one  side  white,  the  other  black ;  it  is  thought  to  carry  the  spirit 
Kiranga  on  its  point  and  is  confided  to  the  custody  of  a  special 


WOESHIP  207 

"hierophant.'^     When  the  ceremony  is  to  take  place,  he  ap- 
pears with  two  assistants;  he  wears  a  sort  of  diadem  made  of 
tiger  skin  and  the  tail  hangs  down  his  hack.    The  other  partici- 
pants arrange  themselves  in  a  semicircle  around  him,  carrying 
in  their  hands  little  hollow  gourds  full  of  hard  grains  forming 
a  rattle.     This  is  the  orchestra,  which  announces  the  beginning 
of  the  ceremony  by  the  aid  of  these  rattles  with  a  particular 
measure.     Then  they  intone  a  hymn  which  is  sung  to  a  singu- 
larly impressive  melody  with  a  note  of  deep  conviction  that 
produces  an  indescribable  melancholy.     During  this  chant  of 
evocation,  each  one  picks  up  a  little  straw  to  present  as  they  bow 
before  the  sacred  spear.     They  clap  their  hands  and  ask  of 
the  spirit  that  resides  on  the  point  of  the  spear  the  various  fa- 
vors they  desire :     '^Make  me  rich,  cure  me,  favor  me,  O  thou, 
king  of  the  Urundi" ;  or  else :  "To  thee,  my  father,  I  offer  my 
homage!"     When  everyone  has  formulated  his  requests,  they 
go  out  from  the  hut  all  together,  singing  as  they  go.    They  then 
direct  their  steps  towards  the  straw  covered  enclosure  to  be 
seen  in  every  village,  which  is  regarded  as  the  resting  place 
of  the  manes  of  their  ancestors.    Here  they  sit  down  and,  after 
a  period  of  silence  and  meditation,  return  to  the  hut.     Then  a 
woman,  selected  for  the  purpose,  takes  a  sort  of  basket  soaked 
in  water  and,  holding  it  above  the  heads  of  the  assembly,  in- 
verts it  and  strikes  it  with  her  hand  in  such  a  way  that  little 
drops  of  water  sprinkle  the  silent  spectators.   During  this  ritual- 
istic aspersion,  everyone  murmurs  prayers  and  thanksgivings 
to  the  God  who  blesses  them.    This  basket  by  its  form  represents 
the  celestial  firmament  from  which  blessings  descend  on  the 
people. 

The  symbolic  aspersion  concluded,  they  produce  a  large  jug 
of  beer  from  which  each  one  drinks  in  turn  without  leaving 
his  place.  After  that  the  assembly  breaks  up:  the  ceremony 
is  over.^^ 

However  varied  these  different  sacrifices  may  be,  the  offer- 
ings consist  only  of  the  products  of  the  earth  or  domestic  ani- 
mals, cocks,  goats,  sheep,  or  oxen.    At  times  the  material  of  the 
sacrifice  has  a  totemic  character,  for  instance,  the  nJcuIa  nuts 
"  Cf»  Van  der  Burgt,  op»  cit.,  art.  "Rite."    .. 


208  THE  EBLIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

among  the  E'egrillos,  the  cock  among  the  Wa-rundi,  etc.  A 
mythological  legend  of  the  Fans  relates  that,  at  the  origin  of  the 
tribe,  the  sacred  and  wonderful  crocodile  in  which  the  spirit  of 
their  common  ancestor  was  incarnated,  was  killed,  immolated, 
sacrificed,  and  partaken  of  in  communion  by  all  the  first  Fans.^^ 

But  there  are  other  sacrifices  in  which  human  victims  are  im- 
molated in  religious  ceremonies,  and  eaten  by  those  assisting. 
To-day  these  human  sacrifices  are  limited  to  certain  tribes.  ButA 
we  can  say  that,  more  or  less,  all  the  Bantu  peoples  are  familiar 
with  human  sacrifice  and  anthropophagy,  at  least  that  they  are 
carried  on  by  their  secret  societies  and  by  the  great  sorcerers 
who  practice  black  magic  and  have  meetings  that  are  strictly 
private. 

Among  the  Fans,  when  a  man  has  been  killed  in  open  combat,  ^ 
or  in  ambush,  or  through  the  practice  of  supposed  magic,  the 
law  requires  his  family  to  avenge  him  by  seeking  out  his  mur- 
derer and,  in  default  of  him,  every  member  of  his  village  or 
family.  They  will  wait,  if  necessary,  but  they  will  never  forget. 
So  long  as  their  vengeance  is  not  satisfied,  it  seems  as  if  the 
voice  of  the  dead  is  perpetually  heard  in  the  conscience  of 
those  who  represent  him  on  earth :  Excoriare  aliquis  nostris  ex 
ossihus  uUor? 

A  man  who  is  caught  under  these  circumstances  is  brought  to 
the  village  of  the  deceased.  He  is  made  to  sit  down  on  the 
ground,  in  the  public  square,  with  feet  and  wrists  tied.  They 
start  to  dance  and  sing  around  him,  shave  his  head,  and  upon 
this  strange  tonsure  they  place  live  coals.  When  night  covers 
all  with  its  darkness,  the  tam-tam  is  played  furiously,  and  when 
the  echo  of  the  sinister  chant  is  sent  back  by  the  forest, 
at  a  given  signal,  the  head  of  the  unfortunate  man  falls 
under  the  sword  of  the  executioner  and  rolls  on  the  ground ;  the 
body  struggles  in  hideous  convulsions,  the  blood  gushes  forth, 
and  all  at  once  the  spectators  leap  upon  the  corpse  and  cut  the 
flesh  into  thin  strips  which  they  cook  and  eat.  The  connois- 
seurs highly  esteem  the  fingers,  which  they  suck  with  great  de- 
light; but  the  heart  is  especially  desirable  as  the  seat  of  cour- 
ao-o  which  is  appropriated  by  eating  that  organ. 
^  Trilles,  ProverheSf  etc. 


WOESHIP  209 

In  Erench  Congo  we  find  anthropophagies  still  more  hideous 
among  those  Bondjos  of  Ubanghi  who  have  been  snmamed  the 
^'hyenas  of  humanity." 

That  our  African  people  have  prayers,  offertory,  sacrifice, 
and  communion  is  an  undisputed  fact.  But  to  what  ideas  do 
these  ceremonies  correspond  and  what  explanation  can  we  give 
of  them? 

In  order  not  to  fall  into  false  interpretations,  first  of  all  we 
must  distinguish  two  kinds  of  sacrifice,  perhaps  three. 

1.  There  is  the  sacrifice  to  the  deadjonthe^i^j^pi  burial  as  X 
also  at  determined  anniversaries.  Food,  linen,  or  some  other 
object  is  offered,  recalling  the  material  needs  of  man  on  earth. 
By  a  curious  symbolism,  the  vases  placed  on  the  graves  are 
always  cracked  or  chipped,  in  a  word,  whatever  is  offered  to 
the  dead  man  must  be  "dead.'' 

These  sacrifices  to  the  manes  seem  to  be  an  expression  of  re- 
membrance, a  sign  of  the  relations  that  one  intends  to  preserve 
with  his  own  kin,  to  bridge  over  the  abyss  between  life  and 
death,  by  continuing  to  maintain  the  common  society,  the  com- 
mon repasts,  and  the  common  meeting. 

But  to  this  feeling  we  must  add  another:  that  of  guarding 
one's  self  by  visible  marks  of  attention  against  the  disagreeable 
return  of  the  ghost,  with  his  appearances,  extravagances,  obses- 
sions, and  vengeances.  Who  knows  all  the  unpleasantness  he 
might  cause  us  if  he  did  not  rest  in  peace?  Experience  and 
faith  teach  us  that  nothing  appeases  him  like  these  offerings  and 
sacrifices.  Does  the  ghost  consume  them  ?  Some  say  yes,  others 
no ;  but  this  is  only  a  detail.  The  important  thing  is  that  they 
be  consecrated  to  him  and  that  nobody  touch  them  except  per- 
haps the  birds  and  the  insects  which,  in  his  name  or  serving  as 
a  material  envelope  for  him,  come  to  partake  of  it.  Even  when 
the  offerings  remain  intact,  in  many  places  they  tell  you  that 
you  see  only  the  external  form :  the  essence  has  disappeared. 

2.  Between  these  manes  directly  proceeding  from  the  bodies  "^ 
of  our  fathers,  whom  we  have  known,  who  have  brought  us  up, 
and  the  spirits  of  the  past  or  those  whose  origin  remains  unex- 
plained— the  spirits  of  the  wind,  of  the  waters,  of  the  woods — 
the  transition  is  imperceptible.  But  as  we  get  further  away  from 


210  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

the  idea  of  a  human  form  in  the  same  degree  is  the  sacrifice 
transformed.  There  is  no  longer  food  in  the  symbolically  brok- 
en vases.  The  offering  becomes  a  homage,  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  sovereignty,  a  sort  of  levy  or  tax  paid  to  the  spirit  that 
we  recognize  as  master.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  "possession"  which 
is  extremely  common,  they  begin  by  asking  the  spirit,  i.e.,  by 
addressing  the  sick  woman  (usually  they  are  women)  what  it 
is  that  she  wishes.  If  the  specialist  who  is  called  has  succeeded 
in  his  art,  the  spirit  replies,  gives  his  name,  and  specifies  the 
sacrifices  desired.  Most  of  these  obsessing  spirits  have  a  name 
and  each  of  them  must  be  appeased  by  particular  ceremonies. 
So  they  call  the  appropriate  exorcist  and  he  begins  his  prac- 
tices which  are  sometimes  very  long  and  complicated.  But  the 
capital  point  is  always  the  sacrifice.  At  the  appointed  hour 
they  slay  the  designated  animal,  collect  the  warm,  steaming 
blood  in  a  vase  and  give  it  to  the  possessed  woman  to  drink. 
Those  present  participate  in  the  ceremony  by  offering  the  spirit 
some  grains  of  maize,  rice,  or  sorghum.  At  least  that  is  the  way 
I  have  seen  it  carried  out  on  the  coast  of  Zanguebar. 

The  possessing  spirit  likes  blood :  he  is  in  need  of  it  and  they 
give  it  to  him.  Both  experience  and  faith  (speaking  from  the 
native  point  of  view)  teach  that  this  sacrifice  succeeds,  that  is 
why  they  continue  to  offer  it. 

3.  But  the  fundamental  idea  of  a  sacrifice  is  still  more  clearly \ 
marked  when  there  is  question  of  honoring  living  nature  or 
the  Master  of  the  world  under  the  name  of  a  spirit  or  even  of 
God.  Then  they  are  no  longer  concerned  with  the  quantity  or 
t^  quality  of  the  offering,  but  with  what  it  represents  or  sym- 
bolizes. Thus  they  offer  the  first-fruits  of  the  crops,  of  their 
fishing,  of  the  hunt,  and  sometimes  of  the  herd  and  even  of  the 
family  in  the  person  of  the  first-born.  They  offer  the  first 
honeycomb  which  they  find  in  the  forest.  Among  the  Massai 
the  most  significant  sacrifice  that  can  be  made  to  divinity  is  a 
handful  of  grass  gathered  in  the  plain,  offered  to  God  or  his 
representatives  as  a  homage.  The  meaning  is  this :  "It  is  you 
who  have  covered  the  earth  with  this  grass,  without  which  our 
herds  and  we  ourselves  could  not  live.  You  remain  its  master ; 
behold  it  here."    Thus,  at  certain  chosen  places,  in  passing  they 


WOESHIP  211 

throw  a  leaf,  a  stone,  a  few  blades  of  grass.  Evidently  in  doing 
this,  it  is  not  their  intention  to  give  any  spirit  something  to 
eat,  but  they  pay  homage  to  him  by  acknowledging  his  dominion 
over  the  ground  on  which  they  walk  or  over  the  water  on  which 
they  paddle  their  canoe. 

These  distinctions  and  remarks  will  help  us  solve  the  prob- 
lem, never  finally  settled,  of  the  origin  and  end  of  sacrifice. 
Many  have  thought  that  its  raison  d'etre  was  to  nourish  the 
^'god,"  to  give  him  something  to  eat  and  drink,  to  take  a  meal 
with  him  and  thus  win  his  favor.  This  crude  idea  may  pos- 
sibly be  that  of  some  low  savages ;  but  even  these  would  not  ac- 
knowledge that  as  their  whole  thought.  Moreover,  this  explana- 
tion does  not  harmonize  with  many  of  the  cases  we  have  cited; 
for  example,  the  offering  of  a  pebble  or  a  handful  of  grass.  In 
fact,  it  is  abandoned  to-day. 

"The  theory,"  says  Eeinach,  "which  considers  sacrifice  as  a 
gift  made  to  divinity — the  divinity  being  regarded  as  an  im- 
mortal and  therefore  trebly  formidable  man — can  not  hold  good 
for  the  beginning  of  things,  for  it  still  dominates  the  super- 
stition of  to-day."  ^^ 

Another  theory  affirms  that  the  object  of  sacrifice  is  "to  es- 
tablish a  communication  between  the  supernatural  world  and 
the  profane  world  by  the  mediation  of  a  victim,  i.e.,  some  ob- 
ject destroyed  in  the  course  of  the  ceremony."  ^^ 

"In  view  of  this  purpose,  the  victim  becomes  sacred:  they 
regard  as  magically  concentrated  all  the  divine  powers;  these 
powers  are  multiplied  by  freeing  them  through  the  immolation ; 
lastly,  the  priest,  the  assistants,  and  the  faithful  are  made 
sharers  in  these  divine  forces  by  means  of  the  flesh  and  blood 
of  the  victim  with  which  the  liberated  energies  remain  in 
contact."  ^^ 

This  theory  seems  too  complex  and  too  elaborate  to  be  primi- 
tive :  it  is  a  theory  of  European  sociology.     Moreover,  sacrifice 

"  Reinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  28. 

^"Hubert   et   Mauss,   Annee  sociologique,    1897-1898    (Bros,   La   religion 
des  peuples  non  civilises,  p.  177). 
^*Bros,  op.  cit.,  p.  178. 


212  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

appears  by  this  theory  to  be  a  magical  proceeding,  as  if  it  were 
not,  above  all,  a  religious  act.     We  must  look  further. 

An  English  scholar,  F.  W.  Kobertson  Smith,  formerly  profes- 
sor at  Cambridge,  considered  sacrifice  as  a  totemic  rite.  The 
totem  animal  had  to  be  killed  in  order  to  be  eaten  and  thus  re- 
new the  sacred  bond  between  the  faithful  and  their  god. 

'The  great  discovery  of  Professor  Kobertson  Smith,"  Reinach 
tells  us,  ''has  been  to  show  that  sacrifice  by  communion  was 
older  and  more  primitive  than  the  sacrifice  by  gift ;  that  it  was, 
in  fact,  the  oldest  form  of  sacrifice ;  that  traces  of  it  are  found 
among  the  Greeks  and  Eomans  as  well  as  among  the  Hebrews ; 
and  lastly,  that  the  communion  as  observed  in  Christian  churches 
is  only  an  evolution  of  this  primitive  sacrificial  rite."  '''' 


??  37 


There   are   indeed   sacrifices   of   the   totem   or    allied   animal, 

and  therein  magic  does  enter ;  but  these  are  not  the  only  kind. 

Totemism  may  be  defined  as  the  mysterious  alliance  withx 

^        an  animal  or  vegetable  species  in  virtue  of  an  ancient  pact  en- 

J*    h^tered  into  by  the  chief  of  the  tribe,  or  a  personal  pact  concluded 

i' Ar  by  the  individual  himself  or  by  his  father.    Totemism  is  only  a 

i    A     small  part  of  the  religion  or  rather  magic  of  the  primitive.     It 

Vjr       is  impossible  to  find  instances  of  it  among  all  of  them.     It  is  a 

#     ;    system  that,  thus  generalized,  can  not  really  cover  the  totality  of 

sacrifices. 

At  most,  this  explanation  would  only  push  the  difiiculty  fur- 
ther back ;  for,  if  totemism  is  the  origin  of  sacrifice,  what  is  the 
origin  and  raison  d'etre  of  totemism  itself  ? 

Father  Lagrange,  examining  this  question  in  his  Etudes  sur 
les  religions  semitiques,^^  approaches  much  nearer  the  proba- 
bility and  the  truth  of  the  matter  when  he  says : 

"We  must  look  for  a  very  simple  concept,  one  that  is,  to 
a  certain  degree,  common  to  all  cases  since  we  are  here  dealing 
with  a  universal  institution.  The  idea  of  a  divinity  residing  in 
things  or  governing  things  is  this  concept  that  we  are  seeking. 

'Take  animism,  if  you  wish.  In  some  natural  object  or 
near  it,  the  savage  perceives  a  spirit;  the  object,  then,  is  not 

^'  Reinach,  op.  cit.,  T,  p.  33. 
^Lagrange,  Etudes,  etc.,  p.  249. 


WOESHIP  213 

his,  he  can  not  "use  it  without  the  spirit's  consent.  It  is  nec- 
essary in  some  way  to  induce  the  spirit  to  become  disinterested 
in  the  object.  The  problem  is  not  to  consecrate  the  object  to 
the  spirit,  but  rather  to  remove  from  it  all  its  consecrated 
character  so  that  it  will  be  available  for  profane  use:  because 
for  the  man  who  sees  spirits  everywhere,  everything  is  more 
or  less  taboo.  Perhaps  the  spirit  will  forgo  his  dominion  if 
we  freely  offer  him  a  part." 

In  reality  there  are  several  kinds  of  sacrifice.  Each  of  them 
may  have  a  different  origin  and  a  different  explanation  accord- 
ing to  the  spirit  addressed  and  according  to  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  offered,  not  to  mention  the  special  and  more  or  less 
elevated  mentality  of  him  who  offers  it. 

Thus,  the  sacrifice  of  the  totem  animal  rests  upon  a  particular 
order  of  ideas.  The  totem  animal  is  a  member  of  the  tribe,  with 
which  a  man,  representing  himself  and  his  descendants,  has 
made  an  alliance  in  view  of  reciprocal  services.  Generally 
speaking,  this  pact  has  been  sealed  by  the  exchange  of  blood 
so  that  the  animal  and  the  man,  the  family  of  one  and  the 
family  of  the  other,  the  tribe  of  one  and  the  tribe  of  the  other, 
are  individuals,  families,  and  tribes  of  the  same  blood.  They 
are  allies.  From  time  to  time  it  is  well  to  renew  this  alliance 
by  the  sacrifice  of  a  representative  of  the  animal  family :  par- 
ticipation in  this  sacrifice  is  by  communion.  This  is  a  new 
exchange,  recalling  the  first  alliance;  it  also  reenforces  the 
powers  especially  belonging  to  the  totem,  powers  fortified  per- 
haps by  the  presence  or  influence  of  the  spirit  of  the  ancestor 
in  the  animal  or  vegetable  thus  consecrated,  sacrificed,  and  eaten. 

But  that  is  not  the  primary  and  general  reason  of  the  offer- 
ing, the  sacrifice,  and  the  communion ;  these  three  things  go  to- 
gether. We  think  we  can  look  for  the  primary  and  general  rea- 
son in  that  vague  but  actual  concept  of  a  primitive  man  whereby 
he  considers  himself  as  a  stranger  in  this  world.  Finding  him- 
self in  the  presence  of  the  products  of  nature  and  feeling 
obliged  to  use  them  in  order  to  live,  he  fears  to  lay  hands  on 
them  as  everyone  is  always  afraid  to  lay  hands  on  the  goods  j 
of  another.  It  may  be  that  his  conscience  (in  its  original  feel- 
ing of  justice)  warns  him  also  not  to  touch  what  does  not  be- 


214  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

long  to  him,  or  perhaps  the  fear  that  he  will  be  discovered  by 
the  invisible  owner,  makes  him  circumspect  and  restrains  him. 
What  is  he  to  do  ?  He  will  take  what  he  needs,  but  he  will  first 
offer  a  gesture  of  submission.  By  presenting  at  least  the  first- 
fruits  of  everything  and,  at  times,  a  symbolic  part  of  what  he 
consumes,  he  will  acknowledge  the  sovereign  dominion  of  the 
supernatural  world.  That  invisible  world  may  seem  to  him 
to  be  a  higher  being  who  rules  over  all,  or  he  may  believe  that 
he  has  to  do  with  particular  spirits  that  guard  one  part  of  the 
earth  or  of  the  waters,  or  he  may  think  himself  still  in  relation 
•^  with  the  manes  of  his  relatives.  At  any  rate,  this  levy  is  not, 
properly  speaking,  a  gift  made  to  the  spirit,  but  a  sort  oi.tax 
due  to  a  master  who  is  clearly  recognized.  That  it  may  be  un- 
derstood that  the  material  forming  this  tax  does  not  belong  to 
man,  it  is  given,  by  special  ceremonies,  a  sacred  character.  This 
sacred  character  prohibits  him  and  his  fellows  thenceforth  from 
f  A  laying  hands  on  this  material.  If  he  stops  at  that,  it  is  what 
we  usually  call  an  offering. 

But  often  his  faith  leads  him  to  do  more  and  better.  To  mark 
his  intention  more  clearly,  he  separates  himself  from  the  ob- 
ject offered,  by  making  it  unfit  for  the  use  of  mortals  and  there- 
by, so  to  speak,  transferring  it  to  the  invisible  world  for  which 
f  %)  it  is  destined.     This  is  the  sacjifice.^^ 

This  object  thus  consecrated,  offered,  and  sacrificed,  is  hence- 
forth penetrated  by  a  supernatural  influence,  if  it  be  not  indeed 
now  inhabited  by  the  spirit  to  whom  it  was  presented.  This  ob- 
ject will  in  its  turn  furnish  the  means  of  contracting  or  renew- 
ing a  more  intimate  alliance  with  the  invisible  world  if  one  in- 
corporates himself  with  it,  if  one  assimilates  it  with  himself. 
fl)  There  you  have  the  communion^^ 

Undoubtedly  this  is  not  all  thus  reasoned  out  in  its  entirety 
by  the  primitives  with  whgm  we  are  dealing ;  but  it  exists,  never- 
f     theless,  in  the  depth  of  their  mentality. 

'Note  this  curious  fact.  The  more  savage  man  is,  the  Ne- 
grillo, for  example,  the  more  distinctly  do  we  find  it  exemplified 
by  him. 

•*  Sacrifice — sacrum  faoere, 

***  Communion — cum  unio^  cum  unire. 


WORSHIP  215 

If  I  myself  set  it  forth  as  furnishing  the  basis  of  sacrifice, 
prayer,  morality,  and  the  prohibitions,  it  is  because  one  day  I 
found  it  expressed  with  surprising  clearness  by  a  village  chief 
of  the  Wa-boni  in  the  great  forest  of  Sokok,  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  Africa.  I  had  the  same  experience  among  the  A-koa 
or  Negrillos  of  Gabon.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  fundamental 
idea,  which  is  so  simple  and  which  harmonizes  with  all  these 
manifestations,  should  be  regarded  as  the  basis  of  the  religious 
conceptions  and  practices  of  primitive  man. 

Later  on  we  shall  find  it  in  the  most  civilized  societies  and 
the  loftiest  religions. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MAGIC 

I.    Religion,  Mythology,  and  Magic.    Coexistence  and  difference.    What 

is  religion?  What  is  mythology?  What  is  magic? 
II.  Natural  Magic.  Its  inspiration.  Its  effects.  Amulets,  talismans, 
charms,  etc.  Natural  magic  and  science.  Magic  in  the  family  and 
in  the  tribe.  Secret  societies.  Some  examples.  Magic  and  mor- 
ality. 
III.  Supernatural  Magic.  Its  character:  it  is  an  anti-religion.  Sor- 
cerers and  sorceresses.  Sickness  and  death.  Possession.  "En- 
voutement."  Human  sacrifices.  Anthropophagy.  Practical  effect 
of  magic  in  African  society. 

I.  Religion,   Mythology,  and  Magic 

[  Up  to  the  present  we  have  been  trying  to  find  out,  from  the 
!N'egrillo  and  the  Bantu  populations,  the  connection  of  man 
with  the  supernatural  world  by  his  belief,  conduct,  and  ritual- 
istic practices,  making  him  recognize  it,  perform  his  duties  to  it, 
and  ask  its  help.  That  is  religion:  its  purpose  is  to  connect 
man  with  the  divinity. 

But  to  succeed  in  discerning  this  triple  character,  dogmatic, 
moral,  and  liturgical,  in  what  is  rightly  styled  their  religion,  we 
have  been  constantly  obliged  to  separate  that  religion  from  other 
elements  that  are  more  conspicuous,  that  form  about  religion  a 
sort  of  parasitic  garment  under  which  it  almost  disappears, 
stifled  and  dishonored.  These  elements,  very  complex  and  fre- 
quently hard  to  disentangle,  so  intricately  are  they  mixed  with 
the  strictly  religious,  we  have  already  grouped  under  the  names 
of  mythology  and  magic. 

"In  this  matter,"  writes  Father  Lagrange,  "everything  re- 
mained confused  for  us  as  long  as  we  did  not  distinguish  be- 
tween religion  and  mythology."  ^ 

*  Lagrange,  op.  cit.,  p.  2. 

216 


MAGIC  217 

Andrew  Lang  has  stated  that 

'^the  rational  factor  (or  what  approves  itself  to  us  as  the 
rational  factor)  is  visible  in  religion;  the  irrational  is  found 
in  myth.  The  Australian,  the  Bushman,  the  Solomon  Islander, 
in  hours  of  danger  and  necessity  'yearns  after  the  gods,'  and 
has  present  in  his  heart  the  idea  of  a  father  and  a  friend.  This 
is  the  religious  element.  The  same  man,  when  he  comes  to 
speculate  on  causes  or  to  indulge  his  fancy  for  fiction,  will 
degrade  this  spiritual  friend  and  father  to  the  level  of  the 
beast,  and  will  make  him  the  hero  of  comic  or  repulsive  adven- 
tures. This  is  the  mythical  or  irrational  element.  Religion 
in  its  moral  aspect,  always  traces  back  to  a  belief  in  a  power 
that  is  benigTi  and  works  for  righteousness.  Myth,  even  in 
Homer  or  the  Rig  Veda,  perpetually  falls  back  on  the  old  stock 
of  absurd  and  immoral  divine  adventures.''  ^ 

Unfortunately  the  use  of  this  word  "mythology"  is  ambigu- 
ous. It  is  better  to  reserve  it  to  designate  the  collection  of  myths 
and  legends  that  relate  the  origin  or  the  wonderful  doings  of  the 
gods  and  of  other  beings  or  things.  Thus  considered,  "the  reli- 
gious sigTiificance  of  these  stories  has  been  absurdly  exagger- 
ated."   These  are  the  words  of  W.  Robertson  Smith.  ^ 

"Strictly  speaking,"  he  says,  "this  mythology  was  no  essential 
part  of  ancient  religion;  for  it  had  no  sacred  sanction,  and 
no  binding  force  upon  the  worshipers.  .  .  .  Belief  in  a 
certain  series  of  myths  was  neither  obligatory  as  a  part  of 
true  religion,  nor  was  it  supposed  that  by  helieving,  a  man 
acquired  religious  merit  and  conciliated  the  favor  of  the  gods. 
What  was  obligatory  or  meritorious  was  the  exact  performance 
of  certain  acts  prescribed  by  religious  tradition."  * 

And  Professor  Jevons,  in  his  turn,  concludes  that 

"mythology  is  primitive  science,  primitive  philosophy,  an  impor-  .« 
tant  constituent  of  primitive  history,  the  source  of  primitive 
poetry,  but  it  is  not  primitive  religion." 

'Lang,  Myth,  Ritual,  and  Religion,  I,  p.  328. 
'  See  L.  Jordan,  Comparative  Religion,  p.  302, 
*Jhid.,  p.  303, 


218  THE  RELIGIDN"  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

We  will  abide  by  these  authoritative  opinions  and,  confining 
mythology  to  this  meaning,  we  shall  have  in  the  word  "magic" 
a  more  precise,  comprehensive,  and  exact  term  to  signify  what 
is  related  t6  religion  as  false  money  is  to  genuine. 

By  magic  we  mean,  as  we  have  said  above,  "the  art  of  making 
use  of  the  forces  of  nature  by  certain  occult  observances  that 
have  a  religious  appearance,  or  of  courting  the  influences  of  the 
invisible  world.  Hence  it  follows  that  magic  is  the  perver- 
sion of  science  as  well  as  of  religion."  This  definition  also 
shows  us  that  magic  is  related  both  to  nature  and  to  the  super- 
natural, thus  possessing  a  double  character. 

II.     l^ATUEAL  Magic 

ISTatural  magic,  as  one  might  suppose  and  as  we  have  already 
given  the  reader  to  understand,  is  very  widespread  in  the  black 
country.  Yet  in  this  matter  there  are  notable  differences  be- 
twen  the  various  tribes,  villages,  and  individuals.  It  is  every- 
where practiced  openly,  has  its  specialists,  ceremonies,  and  ini- 
tiations. As  religion  is  found  mingled  with  it  in  most  of  its 
manifestations,  we  have  had  occasion  to  speak  of  it  in  previous 
chapters.  Its  practices  enrobe  religion  with  numerous  super- 
stitions, as  in  certain  damp  climates  the  moss  covers  aged  trees. 

The  idea  behind  this  natural  magic  is  that  there  are  about  us 
and  within  our  reach,  certain  products  whose  hidden,  protective, 
or  curative  properties  can  satisfy  all  the  needs  of  life  and  drive 
away  all  evils.     The  great  thing  is  to  find  them. 

The  idea  may  be  just  and  at  any  rate  the  motive  is  good.  But 
the  primitive's  lack  of  a  critical  spirit,  his  credulity,  his  more  or 
less  animistic  feeling,  and  an  irresistible  desire  to  satisfy  his 
passions  (which  he  shares  with  all  humanity),  have  turned 
him  into  the  false  path  of  magic.  Once  started  on  that  road, 
it  is  not  easy  for  him  to  turn  back.  Here  is  the  source  of  amu- 
lets, talismans,  charms,  philters,  auguries,  omens,  the  art  of 
divination,  not  to  speak  of  numerous  sacred  prohibitions  or 
taboos. 

The  amulets  and  talismans  are  of  an  infinite  variety: 
some  there  are  against  evil  and  some  for  good  fortune.     The 


MAGIC  319 

form  is  as  variable  as  the  object.  They  are  handed  down  in 
the  family  from  father  to  son,  from  mother  to  daughter  for 
long  generations.  Often  little  gazelles'  horns  are  used  as  well 
as  the  big  horns  of  antelopes  or  goats,  into  which,  following 
learned  formulas,  they  put  dust,  little  sticks,  thorns,  ashes, 
bones,  feathers,  leopards'  claws,  snakes'  skin,  soot,  etc.,  etc.  Of 
these  gri-gri,  some  make  one  invulnerable  in  war,  some  charm 
the  fish,  others  draw  down  the  rain,  preserve  children  from 
certain  diseases,  drive  away  witchcraft,  attract  the  game  during 
the  hunt,  procure  fecundity. 

The  idea  seems  to  be  that  the  power  of  many  of  these  amu- 
lets is  simply  symbolized  by  the  material  objects  employed: 
the  real  power  with  which  they  are  endowed  comes  especially 
from  their  consecration,  the  formulas  used,  and  the  art  with 
which  they  have  been  prepared. 

Others  are  genuine  remedies,  usually  taken  from  the  vege- 
table kingdom,  but  gathered,  prepared,  and  administered  in 
great  secrecy  and  according  to  changeable  formulas  suited  to  the 
eifect  desired. 

Many  means  are  available  to  ^'charm"  the  fish  and  to  attract 

the  game  as  also  to  make  themselves  invisible,  invulnerable,  etc. 

The  conjurers  are  greatly  esteemed:  they  discover  stolen  or 

lost  articles,  denounce  thieves  and  poisoners,  render  witchcraft 

powerless,  foretell  the  future,  deliver  oracles. 

Other  specialists  possess  means  of  making  the  rain  fall  or  of 
stopping  it. 

As  might  be  supposed,  the  healers,  charmers,  conjurers,  and 
other  sorcerers  do  not  always  succeed ;  in  these  cases  they  have 
an  explanation  ready.  But  it  is  unquestionable  that  they  do  ob- 
tain results,  some  due  to  the  real  efficacy  of  their  products  or 
methods,  others  from  their  professional  skill,  and  still  others 
must  be  credited  to  the  action  of  a  happy  chance. 

All  these  things  are  nothing  but  corollaries  from  ideas  origi- 
nally just,  the  attempted  conquest  of  natural  forces,  the  effort 
of  man  struggling  against  the  unknown  and  trying  to  subject 
to  his  own  use  the  multiple  influences  by  which  he  feels  him- 
self surrounded.  As  the  critical  spirit,  knowledge,  and  experi- 
ence develop  in  him,  this  domain  of  natural  magic  will  diminish 


220  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

to  tlie  profit  of  science.  Man  will  always  try  to  preserve  him- 
self from  lightning :  but  instead  of  carrying  an  antelope's  horn 
hanging  from  his  neck,  he  will  place  a  lightning-rod  on  his 
house. 

ProgTCSs  in  this  knowledge,  however,  will  in  no  way  affect 
religion  properly  so  called,  whose  sphere  of  action  lies  in  an- 
other direction  where  experimental  science  can  not  follow.  So, 
when  the  materialist  Buchner  wrote  that  "faith  and  science  have 
two  distinct  domains;  but  their  frontiers  are  constantly  shift- 
ing to  the  profit  of  the  latter,''  he  was  confusing  his  facts.  Al- 
though this  assertion  is  justified  in  regard  to  faith  in  magic  and 
those  external  manifestations  with  a  more  or  less  religious  as- 
pect which  are  too  often  mistaken  for  religion,  it  is  not  at  all 
true  of  genuine  religious  faith.  This  latter,  far  from  being  de- 
molished by  reason,  takes  it  for  its  basis,  and  far  from  being 
annihilated  by  science,  can  only  be  illumined  and  strengthened 
thereby.^ 


r       As  religion  among  the  primitives  has  taken  the  family  for 
its  mainstay,  so  magic  has  not  failed  to  follow  it  into  that  re- 

\  treat  which,  it  would  seem,  should  have  been  closed  against  it ; 

/  spreading  from  there,  it  extended  to  the  village  and  the  tribe 

\  and  seized  upon  the  government  of  these  rudimentary  societies. 
ISTot  to  mention  the  countless  prohibitions,  superstitions,  and 
magical  prescriptions  with  which  the  primitive  family  is  bur- 
dened, we  must  charge  to  magic  the  singular  institution  of  to- 
temism,  or  the  pact  of  allegiance  with  the  animal  world.  We 
have  already  spoken  of  it  at  length,  and  have  no  occasion  to  re- 
turn to  the  subject. 

Magic  takes  a  hand,  also,  in  the  initiation  of  youth.  This 
ceremony,  considered  in  itself,  has  a  raison  d'etre  that  can  be 
usefully  sanctioned  by  religion.  But  magic  nearly  always 
monopolizes,  complicates,  and  deforms  it. 

V       It  is  especially  in  what  we  call  to-day  political  and  social 

action  that  magic,  by  very  curious  organizations,  seems  to  have 

concentrated  its  efforts.     Its  visible  and  avowed  purpose  is  to 

seize  the  government  of  the  village  and  tribe.     It  does  this  by 

'  See  Guibert,  Les  croyances  religieiises,  et  les  sciences  de  la  nature* 


MAGIC  221 

means  of  closed  or  secret  societies  which,  however,  are  not  the 
same  everywhere  although  everywhere  they  bear  an  appearance 
of  undeniable  relationship :  now  more  lax  and  open,  now  more 
tightly  closed,  more  mysterious,  more  active.  By  making  the 
reader  acquainted  with  the  constitution  of  a  few  of  them,  we 
shall  give  a  sufficiently  accurate  idea  of  all. 

In  Giryama  (east  Africa),  for  example,  a  secret  society  of 
the  above  kind,  is  perfectly  well  organized  and  forms  the 
frame-work  of  a  political  constitution  for  the  country,  at  the 
top  of  which  a  clever  and  rigorous  selection  installs  only  those 
who  have  received  the  complete  initiation. 

The  whole  initiation  comprises  three  degrees :  these  are  again 
divided,  the  first  into  three  grades,  the  second  into  four,  and  the 
third  into  two,  so  that  the  ninth  grade,  called  "the  hyena" 
(fisi),  is  the  highest.  This  last  inner  circle  is  composed  only  of 
men  whom  Taylor,  from  whom  we  borrow  these  details,  calls 
"very  select."    And  he  adds : 

"The  members  of  the  Hyena  inspire  great  terror,  as  they 
are  the  depositories  of  the  most  potent  spells  and  oracles.  The 
Enye-tsi  (Possessors  of  the  Land)  are^the  three  elders  that 
govern  Giryama  and  judge  the  land.  They  are  chosen  in 
rotation  from  the  last  two  classes."  ^ 

In  Lower  Congo  the  initiation  of  youth  with  the  requisite 
ceremonies  is  known  by  the  name  of  nkimba,  which  is  the  name 
of  the  fetich  used  for  rallying  the  initiated  or  Zi-nMmba.  But, 
besides  that,  there  is  the  society  of  the  Ndembo,  whose  object 
seems  to  be  to  recruit  and  train  the  sorcerers  and  dignitaries  of 
the  tribe.  The  initiation,  lasting  several  weeks  and  sometimes 
months,  takes  place  outside  the  villages,  in  the  forest,  and  em- 
braces several  trials,  the  teaching  of  a  particular  language,  ritual- 
istic dances,  the  knowledge  of  remedies  and  magical  formulas. 
At  the  end,  when  the  initiated  returns  to  his  family,  he  bears  a 
new  name  and  is  thought  to  be  returning  from  the  world  of 
spirits :  he  begins  a  new  life.''^ 

"  Taylor,  Giryama  Vocabulary,  p.  45. 

'  E.  de  Jonghe,  Les  socieUs  secretes  au  Bas-Congo. 


222  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

In  tlie  region  of  Sette  Cama  and  elsewhere,  the  Bwiti,  which 
is  the  great  fetich  of  the  country,  has  likewise  its  initiated.  To 
enter  the  society,  the  candidate  must  first  chew  certain  roots 
and  drink  a  concoction  from  the  bark  of  a  tree  known  to  bota- 
nists under  the  name  of  Stryclinos  ihaja;  he  is  not  long  in  fall- 
ing asleep  and  losing  all  consciousness.  Then  a  bind-weed  is 
fastened  around  his  neck.  Three  days  later,  when  he  begins  to 
recover,  the  sorcerer  bids  him  look  into  a  piece  of  glass  fas- 
tened to  the  belly  of  the  Bwiti.  There  he  will  see  certain  fig- 
ures of  which  he  must  give  an  account ;  if  he  does  so  correctly, 
he  is  received ;  if  not,  it  is  a  sign  that  the  fetich  has  not  wished 
to  show  himself  to  him. 

In  Gabon,  there  are  also  many  of  these  secret  societies,  some 
composed  solely  of  men,  as  the  Yasi;  others  including  only 
women,  as  the  Ndjemhe:  others  are  mixed.  Initiation,  trials, 
ceremonial  reception,  instruction,  passwords,  the  whole  thing 
is  surrounded  with  an  absolute  secrecy,  with  solemn  oaths  and 
promises,  under  pain  of  death,  to  obey  every  order  coming  from 
the  spirit  under  whose  patronage  the  society  is  organized. 

The  initiated  are  divided  into  different  grades,  recalling  in  a 
strange  manner  our  freemasonry  which  in  civilized  society — 
so  they  say — exercises  a  certain  influence  on  our  religious,  polit- 
ical, and  social  affairs. 

The  high  chief  is  generally  a  stranger  to  the  village  and  known 
to  nobody.  The  reception  ceremonies  like  the  others  take  place 
in  the  evening  or  during  the  night  and  are  clothed  in  great  mys- 
tery. At  the  call  of  the  president,  the  Yasi  comes  out  of  the 
forest:  he  is  a  frightful  being,  all  covered  with  leaves,  wearing 
various  ornaments,  walking  in  a  strange  fashion,  and  talking 
in  a  sepulchral  voice,  giving  orders  and  answering  questions 
that  are  put  to  him.  Naturally  this  mask  is  worn  by  a  con- 
frere, but  that  is  one  of  the  great  secrets  that  nobody  must 
know.  As  soon  as  the  presence  of  the  Yasi  is  perceived  in  the 
village,  the  cries  of  the  initiated  arise,  the  dances  are  begun, 
and  all  the  uninitiated,  beginning  with  the  Avomen  and  children, 
must  withdraw. 

When  he  reaches  the  hut  reserved  for  him,  the  Yasi  receives 
the  candidates,  usually  young  men,  and  proceeds  to  utter  his 


MAGIC  223 

oracles.  Then  they  offer  a  sacrifice,  followed  by  a  repast ;  there 
are  new  dances,  and  the  feast  is  ended. 

The  initiated  bear  a  special  tattoo  on  their  arm ;  when  taking 
an  oath  in  the  name  of  ''Yasi,"  they  place  their  hand  on  this 
tattoo :  it  is  the  great  oath  of  the  country. 

The  master  or  "venerable"  is  distinguished  by  a  tuft  of  hair 
in  the  shape  of  a  triangle. 

'No  doubt,  as  a  defense  against  the  abuse  of  power  to  which 
they  were  exposed  on  the  part  of  the  men,  the  women  have 
also  organized  their  own  secret  societies,  fully  as  mysterious 
as  the  others.  Up  to  the  present,  no  European  can  flatter  him- 
self with  having  ascertained  what  takes  place  therein.  All  that 
we  know,  outside  of  their  abominably  immoral  initiations,  is 
that  often  men  are  included  in  their  membership  and  that  many 
a  poisoning  is  decided  upon  there. 

When  it  is  said  that  the  religion  of  savage  peoples  has  fos- 
tered no  morality  but,  on  the  contrary,  has  been  an  inspiration^y^ 
of  many  evils,  there  is  a  confusion  of  terms  easy  to  understand. 
It  is  magic,  not  religion,  to  which  reference  is  made. 

Magical  morality,  if  one  may  use  the  term,  is  purely  and 
often  brutally  utilitarian.  That  is  good  which  is  serviceable 
and  pleasant.  Everything  is  sacrificed  to  personal  interest;  in 
that  contaminated  atmosphere,  egoism  reigns  supreme,  as  a 
tyrannical  master.  Vae  victis!  The  vanquished  are  the  weak, 
the  slaves,  the  women,  the  children.  This  is  the  barbarous  mo- 
rality which  too  often  conceals  and  stifles  true  morality  in  the 
black  country. 

Moreover,  the  native  African,  contrary  to  what  we  might 
suppose,  is  very  ambitious,  very  eager  to  rise  above  his  fel- 
lows, very  anxious  to  become  rich.  That  disposition,  exploited 
by  the  slave-dealers,  explains  why  the  abominable  slave  trafiic 
has  gone  on  for  such  a  long  time.  This  fratricidal  commerce  has 
been  able  to  exist  only  through  the  complicity  of  thoroughly  de- 
praved chiefs  and  courtiers,  who  are  personally  interested  in 
having  their  compatriots  seized  and  sold  to  foreigners. 

So  magical  proceedings  intended  to  procure  success  and  wealth 
are  especially  numerous  and  highly  appreciated.    One  of  them, 


224  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

in  Congo,  which  involves  the  murder  of  a  near  relative,  a  v^ife, 
a  son,  a  daughter,  is  frequently  employed. 

III.       SUPERNATUKAI.    MaGIC 

At  the  side  of  natural  magic,  there  is  another  kind  that  pre- 
tends to  derive  its  power  from  the  beings  of  the  invisible  world, 
from  disembodied  souls,  the  manes  of  men  and  even  of  ani- 
mals, or  from  independent  spirits.     In  this  matter,  God  dwells 
/apart:  magic  does  not  reach  him. 

/  Like  religion,  this  anti-religion  has  its  forms  of  worship,  its 
/  incantations,  evocations,  rites,  fetiches,  offerings,  sacrifices,  and 
ministers,  its  feasts  and  meeting-places.  It  is  practiced  along 
with  natural  magic  and  along  with  religion,  parallel  to  them, 
mysterious,  elusive,  feared,  execrated,  hunted  in  its  manifesta- 
tions and  representatives,  yet  indestructible.  To  apply  the  word 
"feticher"  or  "sorcerer"  indiscriminately  to  all  sorts  of  persons 
is  incorrect  and  faulty.  The  natives  themselves  do  not  make 
this  mistake. 

All  through  Bantu  Africa,  the  specialist  in  natural  magic 
bears  a  name,  m^ganga,  iirganga,  TYirlianga,  gangd,  n-gan;  cor- 
responding to  it  is  another  word  meaning  "remedy,"  and  a  verb 
from  the  same  root  whose  meaning  is  to  "treat,  recommend,  diag- 
nose." According  to  the  locality,  this  word  m-ganga  has  sev- 
eral synonyms:  they  all  testify  to  the  high  esteem  which  this 
position  enjoys.  In  some  places  they  give  him  the  title  equiva- 
lent to  that  of  "chief,"  m-fumu,  niu-fumu,  etc.,  "the  man  with 
the  spear"  (he  who  has  the  spear  of  command).  Elsewhere  he  is 
called  "healer."  Sometimes  the  office  of  "diviner"  or  "seer"  is 
attested  by  special  epithets. 

As  for  the  conjurer,  he  is  the  m^logi,  m-rogi,  m-lozi,  mo-lo, 
mo-loTci,  m-loo,  e-loroL  These  words  are  all  derived  from  a  cor- 
responding verb  whose  general  meaning  is  "to  charm,  to  be- 
witch." Another  primitive  verb,  -ha,  "to  take  to  the  bait,"  is 
similar  to  this  one.  Corresponding  to  the  above  nouns,  each 
language  has  an  abstract  substantive  "witchcraft,"  ulogo,  hu- 
logi,  u-lozij  etc. 

This  word  "conjurer"  has  synonyms :  m-chawi,  literally  "the 


MAGIC  225 

wicked  watcher,"  m-waiiga,  "the  nigiit-prowler/'  mo-lemha, 
''the  poisoner."  To  address  a  native  by  one  of  these  names  is 
worse  than  an  insult:  it  is  a  serious  imprudence. 

The  sorcerers  and  sorceresses  operate  separately  in  casting 
their  spells,  but  often  they  are  organized  into  societies  that  are 
particularly  secret  about  their  meetings  and  councils.  Nassau 
gives  us  the  following  account : 

''These  meetings  are  secret ;  preferably  in  a  forest,  or  at  least 
distant  from  the  village.  The  hour  is  near  midnight.  An 
imitation  of  the  hoot  of  an  owl,  which  is  their  sacred  bird,  is 
their  signal  call.  They  profess  to  leave  their  corporeal  body 
lying  asleep  in  their  huts,  and  claim  that  the  part  which  joins 
in  the  meeting  is  the  spirit  body,  whose  movements  are  not 
hindered  by  walls  or  other  physical  objects  and  can  pass  with 
infinite  rapidity  through  the  air,  or  over  the  tree-tops.  At 
their  meetings  they  have  visible,  audible,  and  tangible  com- 
munication with  evil  spirits.  They  partake  of  feasts,  the  article 
eaten  is  termed  the  'heart-life'  of  some  human  being,  who,  in 
consequence  of  this  loss  of  his  'heart,'  will  become  sick  and  die, 
unless  it  be  restored.  The  early  cock-crowing  is  a  warning 
for  them  to  disperse ;  the  advent  of  the  morning  star  they  fear, 
as  it  compels  them  to  hasten  back  to  their  bodies.  Should  the 
sun  rise  upon  them  before  they  reach  their  corporeal  'home,' 
their  plans  would  fail,  and  they  themselves  would  sicken."  ^ 

While  the  sorcerer  is  thus  going  about  under  some  form  or 
other,  a  globe  of  fire,  a  night-bird  or  some  other  animal,  if  he  is 
struck,  if  he  is  pierced  with  a  pointed  iron,  if  he  is  shot  at,  he 
finds  himself  beaten  unmercifully  in  his  hut,  if  in  fact  he  ever 
wakes  up :  in  striking  his  disembodied  soul,  you  strike  his  body. 
Many  facts  and  names  are  cited  by  the  natives  in  support  of 
these  statements. 

The  mysterious  power  of  the  sorcerers  comes  from  the  pact 
which  they  have  entered  into  with  a  spirit,  by  ritualistic  and 
secret  formulas,  known  only  to  the  afiiliated. 

Often,  to  accomplish  their  evil  designs  and  to  carry  out  their 
vengeances,  the  sorcerers  change  themselves  into  animals  and 
become  an  object  of  veritable  terror  to  the  country.  Thus  in 
"Nassau,  Fetichism  in  West  Africa,  p.  123, 


226  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

Gabon  the  "man-tiger"  is  often  referred  to.  In  tlie  evening 
after  sunset,  he  is  to  be  seen  prowling  just  outside  the  village  on 
lonely  roads,  or  along  the  edge  of  the  fields.  If  a  child  or 
woman  passes  by,  he  jumps  upon  the  poor  victim  and  slays  him. 
At  Bata  twenty  or  thirty  persons  were  known  to  have  disap- 
peared in  this  way  within  a  few  months.  Elsewhere  it  is  a  man- 
jackal,  a  man-alligator  and  so  forth. 

These  are  real  murders  and  absolutely  verified.  How  explain 
them  ?  Sometimes  they  are  due  to  a  real  beast  that  has  tasted 
human  flesh  and  has  presently  become  a  dreadful  plague.  Other 
times  it  is  a  man  who  clothes  himself  in  the  skin  of  a  leopard  or 
some  other  animal:  the  marks  of  its  paws  remain  on  the  soil 
and  create  the  impression  that  a  beast  has  passed.  This  man, 
obeying  a  sort  of  diabolical  impulse,  seizes  defenseless  people 
and  kills  them.  The  European  police  have  been  able  to  catch 
some  of  these  men-tigers  and  to  execute  them  in  various  centers 
of  colonization  along  the  African  coast.  At  times,  a  series  of 
murders  has  remained  unexplained. 

Other  sorcerers,  under  one  form  or  another,  are  satisfied  with 
doing  material  damage.  During  my  sojourn  in  Gabon,  I  was 
called  one  day  to  Cap  Esterias  by  an  entire  tribe  whose  tapioca 
plantations  were  being  ravaged  by  a  mysterious  band  of  wild 
animals  commanded  by  a  sort  of  captain,  also  a  wild  beast.  This 
fanatic  animal  was  insensible  to  bullets,  avoided  all  traps,  and 
proved  to  be  none  other  than  an  old  sorceress  who  was  pointed 
out  to  me.  Her  victims  wanted  to  cut  her  to  pieces,  and  it  was 
not  without  difficulty  that  I  saved  her  life. 

Besides  strange  powers  that  are  too  often  gratuitously  at- 
tributed to  them,  the  sorcerers  have  others  that  are  only  too 
real.  Whether  they  operate  on  their  own  account  or  at  the  re- 
quest of  some  client,  well  authenticated  poisonings  occur  which 
one  must  never  joke  about.  Sometimes  they  concoct  chamis 
to  inflict  sickness  or  death,  secreting  them,  for  example,  on 
the  path  or  under  the  doorstep  of  the  person  aimed  at  so  that  he 
will  trample  them  under  foot ;  such  charms  or  fetiches  are  gen- 
erally evil  only  because  of  the  bad  intention  attached  to  them. 
But  there  are  others,  which  rarely  fail  to  reach  their  victim, 
so  that  we  shall  not  be  surprised  that  the  Blacks  dread  this  kind 


MAGIC  227 

of  sorcerers,  seek  them  out,  denounce  them,  and,  true  or  false, 
execute  them  without  pity. 

Unfortunately,  the  judges  in  the  black  country  are  far  from 
possessing  the  impartiality,  prudence,  perspicacity  that  justice 
requires.  So  as  not  to  acquit  any  guilty  person,  they  execute 
nearly  all  the  accused:  we  may  therefore  say  that,  in  certain 
parts  of  Africa,  there  is  perhaps  not  a  village  in  which  some  of 
these  executions  have  not  taken  place.  On  the  eastern  coast, 
men  or  women  accused  of  sorcery,  when  they  have  been  judged 
and  condemned,  are  generally  burned  on  a  fire  of  ebony  outside 
the  village  at  the  crossroads.  Passing  along  the  caravan  routes, 
you  will  often  come  upon  little  heaps  of  ashes,  with  debris  of 
bones  and  some  blackened  brands.  ISTear  by,  on  a  dead  tree  or 
one  that  has  been  stripped  you  will  see  some  wretched  rags 
hanging  in  the  wind :  black  justice  has  passed  that  way. 

What  largely  contributes  to  arouse  the  suspicion  of  the  na- 
tives and  considerably  increase  the  number  of  the  victims,  is 
the  mystery  that  surrounds  sickness  and  death  throughout  the 
black  country.  As  vengeance  is  a  duty,  whenever  one  loses  a 
relative,  especially  a  father  or  mother  or  the  head  of  the  family, 
after  having  assured  them  a  worthy  funeral,  the  first  obligation 
is  to  look  for  the  one  who  killed  them.  Kecourse  is  had  to  a 
diviner  or  seer  who  discovers  the  truth  by  various  means,  ac- 
cording to  the  country.  There  are  three  possible  causes  of 
death:  God,  a  spirit,  an  enemy.  If  death  comes  from  God 
there  is  nothing  to  be  done  about  it.  We  can  not  reach  God 
to  settle  our  claims  and,  besides,  having  given  life  He  has  the 
right  to  take  it  away.  If  death  comes  from  a  spirit,  it  must  be 
that  wittingly  or  unwittingly,  the  deceased  has  offended  it,  other- 
wise this  spirit  would  have  found  no  pleasure  in  killing  him.  In 
this  case  an  offering  or  a  sacrifice  is  necessary  to  appease  it  and 
commute  his  demands :  that  is  what  is  actually  done.  But  if  it 
is  discovered  that  death  came  at  the  hand  of  another  man,  that 
man  must  die.  Otherwise  justice  would  not  be  satisfied,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  dead  would  not  fail  to  disturb  the  indifferent 
family  that  should  forget  or  neglect  the  pursuit  of  the  mur- 
derer. 


228  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

The  natives  on  whom  suspicion  may  fall,  voluntarily  offer  to 
undergo  the  ordeal:  vegetable  poison,  boiling  water,  hot  iron, 
etc. ;  though  some  come  out  unharmed,  many  succumb.  These 
are  often  the  first  to  proclaim  themselves  guilty,  asserting  that 
they  must  have  inflicted  the  death  without  knowing  it. 

In  support  of  this  belief,  often  the  entrails  of  the  corpse  of 
the  accused  are  opened  and  when  they  find  anything  strange 
there,  even  an  anatomical  part  which  they  can  not  explain,  it  is 
deemed  a  proof  that  this  man  was  really  a  sorcerer. 

Another  frequent  manifestation  of  the  world  of  spirits  is 
^^possession.'^  The  ^'possessing"  spirit  is  sometimes  of  human 
origin  but  most  often  it  is  a  malevolent  and  perverse  being  whose 
origin  is  little  known  and  who  feels  for  man  only  jealousy, 
bitterness,  and  hatred.  In  such  a  case  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to 
call  a  specialist  who  will  make  the  spirit  speak  and  who  will 
then  know  what  exorcist  to  summon  to  deliver  the  sick  person. 
The  man  of  art  arrives ;  he,  too  inquires  of  the  spirit  who  he  is, 
why  he  entered  that  body,  what  he  requires,  etc.  After  these 
preliminaries  have  been  performed,  they  set  about  satisfying 
these  demands.  At  times  the  spirit  refuses  to  speak,  and  the 
sorcerer  must  supplement  his  silence.  Generally,  however,  he 
speaks,  and  they  obey  him.  Finally,  after  the  tam-tam,  ritual- 
istic dances,  and  other  ceremonies  that  are  very  long  and  com- 
plicated (they  may  last  several  days  and  nights),  the  sacrifice 
is  offered  as  requested,  the  possessed  one  drinks  the  blood  of  the 
victim,  those  assisting  join  in  this  "communion,"  and  the  spirit 
goes  away — sometimes.  If  he  remains,  they  call  in  another 
sorcerer  and  everything  must  be  begun  over  again. 

What  are  these  possessions? 

Many  of  them  are  easily  explained ;  they  are  cases  that  ordi- 
nary medicine  would  relieve,  and  the  best  exorcism  as  well  as  the 
least  expensive,  would  be  a  strong  purgative. 

But  there  are  other  cases  in  which  the  most  skeptical  must 
acknowledge  himself  nonplussed.  For  example,  the  one  pos- 
sessed (they  are  most  often  women)  disappears  from  her  home 
during  the  night  and  on  the  next  day  is  found  high  up  in  a  big 
tree,  tied  to  a  branch  by  fine  bind-weed.    When  the  sacrifice  is 


MAGIC  229 

offered  and  the  bonds  that  hold  her  have  fallen,  she  glides  down 
the  length  of  the  trunk  like  a  serpent.  For  several  minutes 
she  remains  elevated  above  the  ground  and  speaks  fluently  in 
a  language  of  which  she  theretofore  did  not  know  the  first 
word. 

The  natives  recount  many  other  similar  cases  which  they 
claim  to  have  witnessed.  It  would  be  very  interesting  to  check 
up  these  and  many  other  facts  with  all  possible  strictness;  un- 
fortunately it  is  all  carefully^  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  the  Euro- 
pean. If  he  succeeds  in  arriving  on  the  scene  at  a  ceremony  of 
this  kind,  they  will  either  cut  him  to  pieces  rather  than  let  him 
be  present,  or  they  will  promptly  terminate  the  proceedings 
and  disperse. 

We  distinguish  between  protective  fetiches  and  avenging 
fetiches.  Both  may  have  their  agents,  either  the  manes  or 
independent  spirits. 

The  fetich,  Bwiti,  for  instance,  which  is  very  well  known  in 
the  region  of  Gabon  and  Loango  and  is  the  center  of  a  secret 
association,  materially  consists  of  a  stick  rudely  carved  in  the 
shape  of  a  human  figure.  Pieces  of  glass  form  the  eyes ;  a  bit 
of  mirror  takes  the  place  of  the  navel;  therein  the  sorcerer 
will  look  for  the  truth.  Beneath  are  a  tiger  skin,  some  little 
bells,  grass,  strips  of  leather,  etc.  The  bag  from  which  this 
sculptured  stick  emerges  contains  a  skull  filled  with  various 
powders,  corrupt  matter  from  a  corpse,  and  a  bone  from  a  snake. 
The  fetich  is  placed  in  a  decorated  niche  in  the  interior  of  a  little 
hut  that  has  no  other  opening  than  a  door.  A  fire  which,  they 
say,  must  never  go  out,  is  fed  by  three  big  logs  renewed  by  the 
sorcerer.  A  little  path  leads  from  this  hut  to  a  clearing  in  the 
neighboring  forest  where  the  initiated  assemble.  As  in  all  simi- 
lar ceremonies,  the  mildest,  simplest,  and  most  approachable 
Blacks  are  unrecognizable  at  this  time;  for  whole  nights  they 
will  beat  the  tam-tam,  sing,  dance,  and  perform  fantastic  sara- 
bands.   To  approach  them  at  such  a  period  is  impossible. 

Besides  the  fetich  Bwiti,  the  fetich  Mboyo  also  has  its  fol- 
lowers. As  it  occurs  in  the  same  part  of  Africa  (Loango),  let 
us  follow  the  consecration  of  an  avenging  fetich :  it  is  said  to  be 


230  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

directly  influenced  by  a  living  soul  forcibly  snatched  from  a 
man  who  is  known  and  designated.  In  tbis  affair,  we  are  no 
longer  dealing  with  vain  and  laughable  superstitions. 

"When  a  party  enters  tbe  woods  with  the  Nganga  (or  tbe 
Doctor)  attached  to  the  service  of  the  fetiches  Zinkici  Mbown, 
into  which  nails  are  driven  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  the 
^Muamba'  tree,  with  the  intention  of  making  a  fetich,  it  is 
forbidden  for  anyone  to  call  another  by  name.  If  he  does  so, 
that  man  will  die,  and  his  Kulu  (soul)  will  enter  into  the 
tree  and  become  a  presiding  spirit  of  the  fetich  when  made; 
and  the  caller  will  of  course  have  to  answer  with  his  life  to 
the  relations  of  the  man  whose  life  has  been  thus  wantonly 
thrown  away.  So,  generally  speaking,  a  palaver  is  held,  and 
it  is  there  decided  whose  Kulu  it  is  that  is  to  enter  into  the 
Muamba  tree  and  to  preside  over  the  fetich  to  be  made.  A 
boy  of  great  spirit,  or  else,  above  all,  a  great  and  daring  hunter 
is  chosen.  Then  they  go  into  the  bush  and  call  his  name.  The 
Nganga  cuts  down  the  tree  and  blood  is  said  to  gush  forth. 
A  fowl  is  killed  and  its  blood  is  mingled  with  the  blood  they 
say  comes  from  the  tree.  The  named  one  then  dies,  certainly 
within  ten  days.  His  life  has  been  sacrificed  for  what  the 
Zinganga  consider  the  welfare  of  the  people.  They  say  that 
the  named  one  never  fails  to  die — and  they  repudiate  all  idea 
of  his  being  poisoned  or  that  his  death  is  hurried  on  in  any 
material  way  by  the  Bganga,  who,  they  say,  may  be  miles 
away. 

^Teople  pass  before  these  fetiches,  calling  on  them  to  kill 
them  if  they  do  or  have  done  such  or  such  a  thing.  Others  go  to 
them  and  insist  upon  their  killing  so  and  so,  who  has  done  or  is 
about  to  do  some  fearful  injury.  And  they  swear  or  make  their 
demands,  a  nail  is  driven  into  the  fetich  and  the  palaver  is 
settled  so  far  as  they  are  concerned.  The  Kulu  of  the  man 
whose  life  was  sacrificed  upon  the  cutting  of  the  tree  sees  to 
the  rest."  ^ 

This  is  the  classical  proceeding  of  the  "envoutement,"  known 
throughout  Africa  under  one  form  or  another.  ^^ 

"Dennett,  op.  oit.,  p.  93. 

*" Envotitement,   from  en,   preposition,  and  voult    (old   French),  "face" 
(from  vultus). 


MAGIC  231 

Sacrifice,  whicli  seems  to  be  everywhere  tlie  central  rite  of  re- 
ligion, is  also  tlie  rite  about  which  magic  centers,  or  rather  to 
which  magic  leads:  in  both  cases  sacrifice  is  the  homage  ren- 
dered by  man  either  to  the  true  divinity  or  to  spirit  or  demon 
or  man  that  usurps  his  place. 

We  have  previously  mentioned  ritualistic  murders  and  an- 
thropophagy. One  can  exist  without  the  other.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  there  are  tribes  which  offer  human  sacrifices  without 
practicing  cannibalism.  At  the  ISTiger  delta,  for  example,  until 
these  latter  years  human  victims  used  to  be  offered  to  the  sacred 
crocodile.  In  the  same  region,  known  by  the  name  of  "Oil 
Banks,"  a  girl  was  wont  to  be  offered  in  annual  sacrifice  to  the 
spirits  of  the  water  for  the  success  of  the  hunt.  In  relating 
these  facts,  !N"assau  truthfully  adds : 

"Treaties  with  foreign  civilized  nations  have  now  prohibited 
this  sacrifice,  but  the  maiden  has  not  gained  much  in  the 
change.  Instead  of  one  being  sacrificed  to  a  brute  croc- 
odile to  please  the  spirit  trade,  hundreds  are  prostituted  to  please 
brutal,  dissolute  foreigners.''  ^^ 

Anthropophagy  has  closely  followed  human  sacrifice.  Primi- 
tively the  object  of  this  savage  communion  was  the  same  as  that 
of  all  communion  sacrifices :  to  renew  the  alliance  with  the  su- 
pernatural world,  to  participate  in  the  new  outpouring  of  a 
higher  life,  to  appropriate  mysterious  and  powerful  influences 
by  eating  the  material  of  the  sacrifice  consecrated  to  the  divin- 
ity. 

In  many  cases  this  is  still  the  fundamental  idea  of  this  essen- 
tial rite  of  all  religion  and  all  magic.  But  we  also  find  the 
thought  that,  having  subdued  the  victim  in  immolating  it,  they 
partly  assimilate  its  courage  and  other  qualities  by  eating  its 
organs. 

Another  idea  is  clearly  exhibited  among  the  Fans.  He  whom 
they  eat  is  their  enemy  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing, 
the  enemy  of  their  family ;  it  is  he  who  has  made  a  war  on  them, 
who  has  killed  or  has  wished  to  kill  one  of  their  number.  Con- 
sequently they  accomplish  this  double  result:  avenge  the  dead 

"Nassau,  op.  cit.,  p.  93. 


232  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

and  humiliate  the  murderer.  For,  in  the  mind  of  these  phil- 
osophers, there  is  no  greater  or  more  complete  outrage  to  inflict 
on  an  enemy  than  to  reduce  him  to  nothingness  by  passing  him 
piecemeal  through  the  process  of  digestion. 

When  that  is  accomplished,  the  vengeance  is  complete! 
Among  the  Bondjos  of  Ubanghi  this  seems  to  have  reached  the 
last  stage  of  brutality;  anthropophagy  openly  and  commonly 
practiced  until  it  has  become  habitual  and  almost  without  any 
ceremonial.  In  fact,  while  the  man  destined  for  the  butchery 
is  being  greased  by  his  owner,  the  clients  come  and  finger  the 
parts  that  suit  them  best,  one  the  breast,  another  a  shoulder, 
this  one  a  thigh,  and  so  forth.  These  sections  are  at  once  marked 
with  chalk.  Then,  when  all  his  members  have  been  parceled  out, 
the  limbs  of  the  poor  wretch  are  broken  and  are  soaked  in  water 
to  make  them  more  tender;  after  that  he  is  killed,  cut  up,  di- 
vided, and  eaten. 

Father  0.  Allaire,  who  founded  the  mission  of  Lirango  in 
1889,^^  gives  us  valuable  details  as  to  the  practice  of  Congo  an- 
thropophagy. 

"Human  sacrifices  are  always  in  use  by  the  savage  peoples 
among  wiiom  we  live,"  he  says.  "When  I  arrived  at  Liranga, 
my  neighbors  of  JSTyambe,  Butonu,  Busuidi,  and  Irebu  some- 
times allowed  themselves  the  luxury  of  two  or  three  human 
sacrifices  a  week.  This  ceremony  is  an  occasion  of  public 
rejoicing.  All  the  villages  round  about  take  part.  They  sing, 
dance,  and  pass  around  through  the  mad  throng  immense  jugs 
of  palm-wine.  The  condemned  person  (or  persons),  firmly 
secured,  is  permitted  to  witness  the  height  of  joy  w^hich  his 
death  is  to  bring.  At  length  they  untie  the  victim,  make  him 
sit  on  a  log  slightly  raised  from  the  ground,  his  arms  hanging 
beside  his  body,  his  hands  fastened  to  the  ground  by  means  of 
forked  sticks  whose  extremities  are  securely  fastened  in  the 
soil ;  thus  all  movement  is  rendered  impossible.  Similar  forked 
sticks  hold  his  legs  stretched  out  in  front  while  the  bust  is  held 
immovable  by  a  kind  of  palisade  which  comes  up  to  his  shoul- 
ders.     About  two   yards   behind   the   victim,    whom   all   this 

"Liranga  is  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ubanghi  and  the  Congo.     Father 
Allaire  died  there. 


MAGIC  233 

apparatus  literally  nails  to  the  ground,  a  long  solid  pole  is 
planted;  by  means  of  ropes  the  flexible  extremity  of  this  pole 
is  brought  down  to  the  victim's  head,  making  a  spring  that 
will  stretch  his  neck.  Suddenly  the  crowd  is  silent :  the  f  eticher 
has  made  his  appearance.  In  his  woolly  hair  more  than  two 
hundred  feathers  of  different  colors  are  arranged  artistically 
to  form  an  enormous  headdress ;  two  white  circular  marks  sur- 
round the  eyes  which  thereby  acquire  extraordinary  brightness. 
His  dress,  though  scant,  is  rich  and  quite  modest  for  this  land. 
On  his  forehead  and  cheeks  are  red  lines  that  combine  well 
with  the  black  background  of  his  skin.  The  bare  arms  mid 
legs  exhibit  broad  red  and  yellow  stripes.  He  advances  with 
short  steps,  swinging  his  feathery  mane,  holding  in  his  nervous 
hand  the  terrible  execution  knife  that  must  sever  the  head  with 
a  single  blow ;  and  he  stops  and  greets  the  wretch  whom  he  has 
to  execute. 

^'Then,  as  though  seized  with  madness,  he  goes  through  contor- 
tions that  no  pen  could  describe:  he  tosses  himself  about  like 
one  possessed,  leaps,  doubles  up,  advances  so  gently,  so  much 
like  a  reptile,  that  you  can  not  perceive  any  movement  of  his 
feet.  The  crowd  applauds.  But  silence  is  restored  as  soon 
as  the  fatal  knife  is  raised.  The  sorcerer  then  begins  a 
rhythmic  chant:  it  is  the  chant  of  death.  The  people  respond 
by  repeating  his  words  to  the  same  air  and  clapping  their 
hands  in  time  to  the  melody.  Thus  singing  and  gesticulating, 
several  times  he  approaches  his  victim  who  is  a  helpless  witness 
of  these  preparations.  With  white  chalk  he  marks  a  line 
around  the  victim's  neck:  it  is  there  he  will  strike  when  the 
time  arrives.  Twice  brandishing  the  knife,  he  touches  the  con- 
demned man's  neck  with  it.  The  chant  is  ended:  with  a  leap, 
the  f eticher  approaches  the  victim  and  again  steps  back;  twice 
more  his  arm  strikes  the  air  by  way  of  trial.  Then  the  knife 
is  lowered  and  a  single  stroke  cuts  off  the  head  which  the  bent 
pole  sends  rolling  far  away.  With  a  shout  the  crowd  leaps  on 
the  body.  All  is  over ;  soon  the  savages  will  joyfully  return  to 
their  homes." 

''I  recently  learned,"  writes  Father  Allaire,  ''of  the  death 
of  a  very  influential  woman  chief  named  Komba-Keka,  whom 
I  knew  quite  well.     Do  you  know  how  many  slaves  were  slain  | 
to  accompany  her  to  the  grave  ?    Seventy. 

''This  is  how  they  do  it  at  Bonga,  near  Liranga.     They  bind 


234  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

the  victim,  stretch  him  on  the  ground,  and  place  a  heavy  piece 
of  wood  on  his  throat.  The  executioner,  bracing  himself  by  the 
aid  of  his  spear,  placed  his  two  feet  on  the  extremities  of  the 
log,  and  strangles  the  unfortunate  mortal.  .  .  .  When  the 
latter  has  ceased  to  breathe,  they  bury  him  and  proceed  to  the 
next. 

^When  a  chief  wants  to  go  hunting,  he  gathers  his  friends 
who  are  to  accompany  him  and  they  drink  and  sing.  But  before 
starting  out,  as  they  must  have  some  blood  for  the  success  of 
the  expedition,  they  bring  forth  a  little  slave  of  ten  or  twelve 
years  who  has  been  tied  in  a  corner  the  night  before  and  with- 
out ceremony  very  prosaically  cut  off  his  head  with  a  dull  knife. 
Sometimes  his  blood  is  poured  into  the  water  of  the  river  where 
they  throw  the  body ;  then  they  confidently  set  out. 

"Children  up  to  the  age  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  are  the 
ordinary  victims  selected  for  all  these  horrors,  for  they  are 
the  weakest,  and  in  Africa  weakness  is  a  crime."  ^^ 

Let  us  pass  from  these  horrors  which  exemplify  the  depth  of 
degradation  to  which  humanity  can  fall.  But  it  is  worthy  of 
note  that  the  tribes  most  given  to  anthropophagy,  infanticide, 
poisoning,  and  all  the  plagues  of  magic,  are  not,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  material  advancement,  inferior  to  other  tribes.  On 
the  contrary,  because  of  their  superior  political  organization, 
their  social  development,  and  their  great  skill  in  industry  and 
commerce,  they  often  dominate  the  others.  Yet,  just  when  they 
have  reached  this  comparatively  higher  degree  of  civilization, 
we  find  them  subject  to  these  aberrations  which  complete  their 
evolution  by  killing  them  all  off :  it  is  a  process  of  tribal  suicide. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  dwell  on  other  examples  which 
show  us  that  these  strange  and  humiliating  debaucheries  are  not 
the  sole  privilege  of  the  primitives.  Without  speaking  of  what 
takes  place  in  the  shoals  of  our  European  society,  we  have  lately 
seen  numerous  representatives  of  the  most  civilized  races  who 
were  living  in  the  African  world  for  the  work  of  colonization, 
astonish  the  lowest  savages  by  the  extremity  of  their  moral  per- 
versity, by  their  useless  cruelty,  and  by  their  shameless  degen- 
eracy. So  true  is  it  that  man  is  everywhere  the  same  and  that, 
though  neither  angel  nor  beast  according  to  the  saying  of  Pas- 

"  Letters  from  Rev.  Olivier  Allaire,  C.S.Sp.,  missionary  in  Ubanghi. 


MAGIC  235 

cal,  lie  is  nevertheless  capable  of  mounting  very  high  towards/' 
the  one  and  of  descending  very  low  towards  the  other.  •• 

The  practical  and  social  effect  of  this  tyranny  of  magic  on 
the  African  population  does  not  directly  enter  into  our  sub- 
ject :  we  shall,  therefore,  be  satisfied  with  a  few  words  on  this 
point. 

The  first  effect  is  the  forgetfulness  and  corruption  of  religion 
along  with  the  degradation  of  morality.  It  is  useless  to  insist 
on  this  feature,  for  what  we  have  just  said  sufficiently  estab- 
lishes the  truth  of  the  assertion. 

The  second  is  depopulation.  In  the  black  continent  fetich- 
ism  has  slain  more  victims  than  wars,  disease,  or  slavery.  It  is  a 
Moloch  whose  appetite  is  never  sated.  Human  sacrifices  at  the 
death  of  the  great  chiefs,  as  formerly  in  Uganda,  the  states  of 
Upper  Congo,  the  valley  of  the  Ubanghi,  the  Ashanti  country, 
and  Dahomey,  the  accusations  of  sorcery,  more  or  less  ritualistic 
poisonings,  and  judicial  ordeals,  have  done  to  death  thousands 
of  men,  women,  and  children,  and  still  continue  doing  so. 

Has  Islam,  where  it  is  established,  stopped  this  plague  ?  Is- 
lam in  many  places,  as  along  the  Upper  Congo,  in  the  environs 
of  the  Tchad  in  Sudan,  has  brought  devastation  and  ruin.  It 
has,  besides,  seized,  killed,  sold  and  distributed  on  all  the  cara- 
van routes  thousands  and  thousands  of  slaves.  Wherever  it  has 
penetrated  without  violence,  entire  populations  have  been  af- 
fected with  syphilis  by  contact  with  it. 

But  now  comes  European  civilization  to  shed  its  light  on  be- 
nighted Africa.  This  will  perhaps  end  her  misfortunes !  Far 
from  it.  European  civilization,  in  the  forms  it  so  often  takes, 
disorganizes  and  dissolves  the  African  family,  introduces  alco- 
hol, spreads  the  gout,  destroys  the  class  distinctions  of  the 
Blacks,  increases  everywhere  dreadful  diseases,  such  as  the 
sleeping  sickness  which  was  formerly  confined  to  certain  points 
on  the  coast.  'No,  alas!  European  civilization  does  not  end 
those  trials  which  have  fallen  on  the  black  world.  But,  every- 
thing considered,  it  has  advantages,  and  we  hope  at  least  that 
we  can  contribute  to  make  it  better  and  render  it  a  means  of 
real  progress  for  its  African  wards. 


236  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Along  with  depopulation,  tiie  tyranny  of  tlie  secret  societies 
exercises  a  lamentable  influence  on  the  African  population.  No 
class  of  natives,  no  sex  escapes.  That  tyranny  strikingly  de- 
velops a  tendency  to  dissimulation,  suspicion,  accusations,  and 
oppression  to  which  the  nature  of  the  Black  is  generally  already 
too  much  inclined.  These  secret  societies  are  undoubtedly  to 
be  classed  among  Africa's  plagues.  Where  in  the  world,  we  ven- 
ture to  ask,  are  they  an  influence  for  good  ? 

These  groups  of  institutions,  usages,  excesses,  and  abuses  of 
every  kind  have  spread  over  these  people  like  an  atmosphere  of 
general  mistrust,  arresting  all  progress. 

"There  is  no  place  in  the  world,"  says  Wilson,  "where  men 
feel  more  insecurity.  A  man  must  be  careful  whose  company 
he  keeps,  what  path  he  walks,  whose  house  he  enters,  on  what 
stool  he  seats  himself,  where  he  sleeps.  He  knows  not  at  what 
moment  he  may  place  his  foot  or  lay  his  hands  upon  some 
invisible  engine  of  mischief,  or  by  what  means  the  seeds  of 
death  may  be  implanted  in  his  constitution."  ^* 

JSTassau  adds  that  in  consequence  of  this  lack  of  confldence, 
the  natural  affection  and  duties  of  our  most  cherished  human 
relations  are  perverted.  The  women  are  afraid  of  their  hus- 
bands, the  husbands  of  their  wives ;  the  children  %ave  no  assur- 
ance as  to  the  intentions  of  their  parents,  nor  the  parents  as  to 
those  of  their  children ;  the  village  chief  doubts  his  peopje ;  and 
the  entire  community,  which  ought  to  live,  eat,  and  work  to- 
gether, lives,  eats,  and  works  in  secret,  constant,  and  reciprocal 
mistrust.  This  general  suspicion,  founded  on  reasons  only  too 
well  justified,  is  the  principal  cause  of  the  scattering  of  Afri- 
can society  into  tiny  villages,  the  dispersion  of  all  this  poor 
world,  the  cause  of  its  weakness  in  the  presence  of  invaders  and 
slave-traders,  of  its  powerlessness  to  rise,  of  its^halt  in  the  march 
of  civilization. 

Moreover,   this   distress  generates   a   strange   jealousy  that 

strengthens  still  more  the  tyranny  from  which  these  primitive 

societies  suffer.    ISTo  one  can  rise,  become  rich,  do  anything  new 

that  distinguishes  him  from  the  common  rank  and  file  without 

"  Wilson,  Western  Africa,  in  Nassau,  op.  cit.,  p.  269. 


MAGIC  237 

arousing  envy  and  its  consequences.  A  somewhat  better  con- 
structed house,  a  better  planted  field,  clothes  more  carefully 
made,  attract  attention  for  they  indicate  an  ambitious  man ;  the 
only  means  by  which  this  man  of  progress  may  maintain  him- 
self is  to  make  himself  feared.  Only  the  fear  of  his  fetiches 
will  keep  the  curious  on  their  guard:  otherwise  he  is  a  lost^ 
man. 

Thus  an  equality  in  misery  and  barbarity  has  been  main- 
tained in  Africa  during  the  ages. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
COMPAEISON  OF  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

I.    On  Peimitive  Ground. 

II.  The  Human  Races.  General  divisions.  The  dispersion.  The 
Blacks;  the  Browns;  the  Yellows;  the  Whites;  the  Reds:  re- 
ligion. 

III.  San,    Negbillos,    and    Negritos.    Their    common    characteristics. 

Religion.     Morality. 

IV.  Negritians  and  Hamites.     The  family.     Totems  and  taboos.     God. 

Again  the  confusions  of  Reville. 
V.    In  Oceanica,  America,  Europe,,  Asia. 
VI.    Quaternary  Man. 

VII.  Ancient  Civiuzations,  Etruscans  and  Latins;  Greeks;  Phoeni- 
cians; Assyrians;  Chinese;  Aryans;  Egyptians.  More  ancient 
than  them  all  are  our  Pygmies.  The  religion  of  one  throws  light 
on  that  of  the  others. 
VIII.  Conclusions.  Religion  everywhere.  Everywhere  the  family  as  the 
mainstay  of  religion.  Everywhere  magic  as  the  corruption  of 
religion. 

I.     On  Peimitive  Ground 

With  the  manifestations  of  magic  excepted,  the  religion  of 
the  Bantiis  and  those  tribes  associated  with  their  life  has  been 
that  described  in  the  foregoing  pages. 

"We  must  repeat  that  their  beliefs,  morality,  worship,  and 
religious  organization  do  not  form  a  coherent,  homogeneous,  and 
scientific  system  such  as  we  generally  associate  with  the  word 
''religion,"  as,  for  instance,  that  of  Buddhism  and  Islam.  All 
the  elements  appear  mingled  together,  confused,  and  more  or 
less  dissimilar.  But  they  are  there  and  perceptible  to  the  at- 
tentive eye,  especially  if  we  are  willing  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  manner  in  which  the  Blacks  understand  life  and  civili- 
zation. We  have  no  right  to  ask  of  them  what  they  can  not 
give. 

However  imperfect  this  religion  may  be  and  however  im- 
perfect the  exposition  we  have  been  able  to  give  of  it,  neverthe- 

238 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  239 

less  botli  form  a  sufficient  basis  for  the  study  we  have  under- 
taken. 

We  will  now  attempt  briefly  to  compare  the  religions  of  the 
relatively  primitive  peoples  that  are  actually  living  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  globe.  Besides  the  special  interest  which  this  method 
has  for  us,  it  has  the  great  advantage  of  placing  us  precisely  on 
the  ground  chosen  by  the  science  that  is  devoting  itself 
to  studying  the  origin  of  religions:  these  primitives  are  that 
''limestone  bank"  of  which  we  have  spoken,  flourishing  in  a 
country  of  floods  and  representing  ancient  ground  on  which  we 
ourselves  have  built. 

II.     The  Human  Kaces 

The  human  races  have  not  yet  been  classified  in  a  manner 
that  is  finally  acceptable.  As  it  would  he  so  foreign  to  our 
study  to  bring  forward  an  independent  classification  and  offer 
our  reasons  for  it,  we  will  be  satisfied  to  follow  Quatre- 
fages  and  seek  the  protection  of  the  great  authority  attached 
to  his  works.  He  divides  the  human  species  into  three  funda- 
mental types,  under  the  conventional  names  that  have  been  given 
them. 

The  White  type,  embracing  the  Aryans  and  Semites ; 

The  Yellow  type,  including  Asiatics  and  American  Indians ; 

The  Black  type,  composed  of  African  negroes  and  the  Malays 
of  Oceanica.^ 

This  division  is  the  most  popular  and  simple  and  perhaps  not 
the  least  just. 

According  to  the  opinion  of  Quatrefages,  Asia  was  the  seat 
of  the  formation  of  these  three  fundamental  types  and  most  of 
the  principal  secondary  types.  This  opinion  has  not  been  weak- 
ened by  the  studies  undertaken  since  the  death  of  that  worthy 
scholar.  We  may  be  permitted  to  adopt  it  at  least  provision- 
ally. "Asia,"  he  says,  ''has  remained  the  great  fatherland  of  the 
Yellow  race  and  has,  so  to  speak,  distributed  to  the  other  parts 
of  the  world  the  races  sprung  therefrom."^ 

*  Quatrefages,  Introd.  d  Vetude  des  races  Tiumaines,  p.  335.     Cf.  Deniker, 
Races  et  peuples  de  la  terre;  Dr.  Weule,  Globus. 
"Quatrefages,  op.  cit,,  p.  335. 


240  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

The  negro  type,  for  example,  probably  acquired  its  racial 
characteristics  primitively  in  southern  Asia.  Its  various  rep- 
resentatives emigrated  from  there,  some  westward  towards  Af- 
rica, the  others  eastward  towards  India,  Indo-China,  and  that 
part  of  Oceanica  which  to-day  bears  the  name  of  Melanasia. 

Thus  several  ethnic  layers  must  have  been  deposited  in  Af- 
rica over  the  San  and  the  !N^egrillos,  mingling  with  them  in 
various  proportions.     We  can  recognize  among  them  the  fol- 
lowing general  divisions :  to  the  south,  the  Bantus,  who  have  • 
been  the  special  subject  of  this  study;  on  the  equatorial  side,  the  • 
ISTigritians,  who  form  considerable  tribes  and  have  at  times  even 
constituted  veritable  states,  such  as  the  Achantis,  the  Daho-* 
meyans,  and  various  peoples  in  the  valleys  of  the  Tchad,  the 
Niger,   and  the   Senegal.      They   are  all,   in  general,   larger, 
stronger  and  blacker  than  the  Bantus. 

At  the  same  time,  through  Oceanica  spread  the  Australian 
negroes,  the  Papuans,  the  Melanesians  of  'New  Britain,  New 
Hebrides,  JSTew  Caledonia,  the  Fiji  Islands,  etc. 

Asia  itself  preserved  some  more  or  less  pure  examples  of 
this  population :  such,  for  example,  are  the  Veddahs  of  Ceylon. 

Upon  this  black  population,  at  a  date  impossible  to  deter- 
mine, there  must  have  been  deposited  a  new  element:  the  ele- 
ment called  Hamitic,  whose  skin  is  brown  rather  than  black, 
and  whose  type,  while  neither  that  of  the  Yellow  nor  of  the 
White,  is,  however,  not  that  of  the  Negro.  ^  By  a  movement 
similar  to  that  which  we  have  just  mentioned,  this  population 
spread  as  follows : 

Iq  Africa,  where,  as  the  Massais,  Oromos,  Peuls,  and  an-* 
cient  Egyptians,  it  occupies  the  northern  parts,  left  more  or  less 
free  to  it  by  the  Blacks  who  had  penetrated  into  the  continent ; 

In  Oceanica,  where  ,the  Polynesians  show  extraordinary  affini- 
ties of  type,  manners,  traditions,  and  even  language  with  these  j 
Africans  just  mentioned* ; 

"Ham,  from  the  root  'Edmman,  "warm,"  related  to  'EOm,  '"black." 
Ham,  ancestor  of  the  dark  people,  but  not  of  the  negroes,  as  a  widespread 
prejudice  considers  (according  to  F.  Lenormant,  Lesi  origines  de  Vhistaire 
d'apres  la  Bible). 

♦WJCwa  Mitra,  Les  Chamites. 


COMPAEISON  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  241 

In  Asia,  where  it  has  left  numerous  evidences,  notably  in 
India. 

While  the  Blacks  and  Browns  were  spreading  especially  to- 
ward the  continents  and  islands  of  the  south,  the  yellow  race 
was  multiplying  and  covering  an  immense  continuous  area  that 
to-day  extends  from  the  eastern  coasts  of  Asia  all  the  way  to 
Europe  and  even  America ;  including  besides  the  civilized  popu- 
lations of  Indo-China,  China,  Thibet,  and  Mongolia,  others, 
such  as  the  Samoyedes,  Kamchadales,  Innuits,  or  Esquimos, 
which  might  be  considered  as  races  that  remain  in  the  primi- 
tive state. 

The  Whites  likewise  formed  themselves  into  different  power- 
ful branches.  One  of  them  has  left  vestiges  of  itself  in  Asia, 
among  the  most  primitive  populations,  as  the  Ainus  of  Japan 
and  the  Todas  of  India ;  another  was  driven  back  to  the  extreme 
north  with  the  Finns  and  the  Laplanders ;  another  furnished  the* 
Semitic  element,  so  important  in  ethnographic  studies ;  and  an- 
other is  represented  by  the  great  Ayran  family  which  to-day 
rules  the  destinies  of  the  world. 

As  for  America,  it  seems  to  have  been  peopled,  for  the  most 
part,  by  emigrants  more  or  less  closely  joined  to  the  yellow 
stock ;  but  in  that  vast  continent,  which  extends  from  one  pole 
to  the  other,  we  may  say  that  the  three  fundamental  types  have 
contributed  in  unequal  proportions  to  form  the  tribes  which 
the  European  found  there. ^  This  mixed  population  is  to  be 
seen  established  at  various  points  on  the  earth,  notably  at  Mada- 
gascar and  in  all  that  part  of  the  Far  East  to  which  has  been 
given  the  name  of  Malaysia. 

To  conclude  this  rapid  review  of  man's  dispersion  over  the 
earth,  let  us  repeat  that  science  is  far  from  having  determined 
the  classification  of  the  races.  What  we  have  just  been  saying 
is  not  said  to  show  a  preference  that  would  be  necessary  to  found 
a  theory.  For  the  present,  let  us  continue  our  search  for  the 
living  black,  yellow,   and  white  populations,  pure  or  mixed, 

•  Quatref ages,  op.  dt.,  p.  550. 


242  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

which  most  closely  approach  what  is  said  to  be  the  primitive 
condition  of  humanity.  Our  object  will  be  to  point  out  their 
religious  beliefs,  to  compare  them,  and  finally  to  succeed,  if  we 
can,  in  preparing  a  sort  of  symbol  or  Credo  which  may  be  said 
to  be  that  of  the  first  ancestors  of  mankind. 
\  This  study  might  occupy  entire  volumes.  The  information 
'furnished  by  travelers,  the  studies  undertaken  on  the  spot,  and 
the  various  works  relating  to  anthropology  have  increased  to  un- 
limited proportions.  Thanks  to  this  abundance  of  documentary 
evidence,  we  can  make  the  following  statements: 

1.  All  the  peoples  known  up  to  the  present — we  may  well  say 
all  peoples — have  or  have  had  a  religion,  in  the  broad  sense  in 
which  we  continue  to  use  this  word; 

2.  Among  all  these  peoples,  the  foundation  of  religion  is  sub- 
stantially the  same ; 

3.  Going  down  the  scale  from  the  highest  ancient  civiliza- 
tions, like  those  of  Egyptian,  Chaldean,  Assyrian,  Phoenician, 
Indian,  Cimmerian,  Chinese,  Mexican,  and  Peruvian  antiqui- 
ties, to  the  lowest  social  forms,  we  find  religions  that  are  less 
systematized,  less  complicated,  less  poetic,  less  rich  in  theogo- 
nies,  m;)i:hologies,  organizations,  and  other  details.  In  other 
words,  in  the  degree  that  these  populations  have  a  general  primi- 
tive aspect,  the  more  simple  are  the  religious  data,  the  more 
elementary  and  less  complicated. 

The  rapid  glance  that  we  shall  give  the  chief  primitive 
populations  of  the  world  to  supplement  our  study  of  the 
Bantus,  will  confirm  the  conclusions  that  we  shall  finally  be 
led  to  make. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Africa. 

Lower  than  the  Hamites,  Bantus,  and  even  Hottentots,  we 
find  unfortunate  little  men  who  have  taken  the  name  of  San 
(in  the  singular  8ah),  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  conti- 
nent, driven  out  from  every  locality  and  wandering  in  scat- 
tered groups  through  the  desert  lands  of  Kalahari.  Dutch 
colonists  long  since  designated  them  under  the  name  Bosjes- 
mannen  (in  English  Bushmen).  We  find  them  also  scattered 
in  more  or  less  important  settlements  among  the  Khoikhoi  or 


COMPAEISON  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES  243 

Hottentots,  standing  somewhat  higher  on  the  ladder  of  hu- 
man civilization,  but  resembling  the  San  in  many  ethnic 
respects.^ 

San  and  Khoikhoi  at  present  inhabit  the  south  of  Africa  on 
both  sides  of  the  Orange  Kiver.  Towards  the  north,  we  find 
in  the  JSTegrillos,  already  spoken  of,  a  population  in  many  re- 
spects quite  similar.  Indeed  they  are  found  from  the  Orange 
where  we  left  the  San,  all  the  way  to  Counene,  in  Angola, 
around  the  great  lakes  of  central  Africa,  in  the  immense  equa- 
torial forest  that  extends  from  Gabon  to  the  farthest  tributaries 
of  the  Congo,  then  from  Cameroun  and  the  Niger  to  the  Kenia 
and  the  valley  of  the  Djouba.  'Not  far  away  is  Ethiopia  and 
the  Nile  valley  where  the  ancient  writers  of  Greece,  with 
Herodotus  and  Homer,  formerly  pointed  them  out.*^ 

We  find  a  similar  race  in  the  Negritos  in  the  part  of  the  world 
that  faces  eastern  Africa,  towards  the  lands  washed  by  the  In- 
dian Ocean. s  The  Negritos  are  represented  in  relatively  pure 
groups  in  the  Philippines,  by  the  Aetas  (from  the  Malay  Hitan, 
''Black")  ;  in  the  peninsula  of  Malacca  by  the  Sakai  and  Se- 
mang;  and  in  the  Andaman  Islands  by  the  Minkopies.^  But 
Quatrefages  said,  and  has  not  been  contradicted,  that  traces  of 
them  may  be  seen  at  a  great  number  of  other  points  in  the 
Oceanic  islands.  "Eor,  without  speaking  of  more  or  less  pure 
small  groups  that  still  exist,  this  race  forms  the  common  foun- 
dation of  entire  populations ;  it  has  left  traces  of  itself  in  the 
midst  of  victorious  races,  from  New  Guinea  to  the  Persian  GuK, 
and  from  the  Malay  Archipelago  to  Japan,"^^  not  to  mention 
India,  Ceylon,  Baluchistan,  and  Suziane. 

Thus  converging  from  the  depths  of  Africa  and  the  depths 
of  Oceanica, — and  perhaps  we  might  also  discover  evidence 

•  Deniker,  Les  races  et  les  peuples  de  la  terre. 
^  See  Le  Roy,  The  Pygmies. 

■  Negrito,  "little  negro,"  name  given  by  the  Spaniards  of  the  Philippines. 

•  Deniker,  op.  cit.,  p.  556.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  by  the  way,  that  this 
word  minkopi  is  unknown  to  the  natives.  It  is  of  European  formation  and 
seems  to  come  from  the  words  Kemi  kopi,  "remain  here,"  no  doubt  under- 
stood as  an  answer  to  the  question:  Who  are  you?  These  mistakes  are 
very  common.     (Quatrefages,  Les  Pygmees,  p.  99). 

"Quatrefages,  op.  cit.,  p.  351. 


244  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

of  their  passage  on  the  European  continent  ^^ — we  find  our- 
selves tending  to  a  common  center  where  the  ancient  and  defi- 
nite dispersion  probably  took  place. 

Over  that  immense  area  this  interesting  race  presents  inevi- 
table differences  due  to  a  number  of  causes :  the  remote  date  of 
their  separation,  the  regions  occupied,  the  action  of  environ- 
ment, and  above  all  the  intermarriage  in  varying  proportions 
with  neighboring  tribes.    Yet  the  Negrillo  and  the  JSTegrito  type 
everywhere   possesses   surprisingly   permanent   characteristics: 
smallness  of  stature,  dark  color  of  the  skin,  woolly  appearance 
of  the  hair,  large  size  of  the  head,  a  vagabond  existence,  the  dis- 
position to  pass  unperceived,  temporary  and  wretched  habita-     , 
tions,  disdain  for  all  culture  and  improvement,  a  wilful  and  con-    | 
scious  care  to  take  no  sustenance  of  life  except  the  free  prod-    1 
nets  of  the  earth,  a  conviction  which  they  have 'concerning  them-    ' 
selves  and  which  the  neighboring  populations  have  of  them  that 
they  were  the  first  comers  on  the  land  which  they  occupy,  the 
aborigines,  the  "men." 

If  now  we  try  to  take  note  of  their  beliefs  and  religious 
practices,  another  surprise  confronts  us :  these  resemble  one  an-     i 
other  almost  everywhere,  as  much  as  do  their  other  ethnic  char-     ' 
acteristics,  perhaps  even  more  so. 

Everywhere  among  the  San,  the  ISTegrillos,  and  the  ISTegritos, 
the  family  is  so  established  that,  with  the  rare  exception  of 
some  important  settlements,  the  head  of  the  family  is  every- 
thing :  father,  chief,  and  priest.    The  family  is  monogamous. 

A  universal  and  very  remarkable  characteristic  of  their 
religion  is  that  nowhere  does  it  seem  to  require  temples,  en- 
closures, huts,  like  the  miniature  huts  pointed  out  among  the 
Bantus.  ISTor  do  they  make  fetiches :  here  and  there  they  wear 
simple  amulets,  ordinarily  consisting  of  little  pieces  of  wood; 
these  are  rather  considered  as  remedies  in  their  thought. 

They  are  able  to  prepare  amulets  against  all  the  evils  and  for 
all  the  needs  of  life,  they  know  the  best  recipes  for  catching 
game,  they  can  make  themselves  invisible.  What  do  they  not 
know?     They  are  the  ones  who  first  learned,  thanks  to  super- 

"  Skeletons  of  real  pygmies  have  been  found  in  the  ancient  tombs  of 
Schweizernbold,  in  Switzerland. 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  245 

natural  revelations,  thej  say,  to  extract  iron  and  to  work  it. 
Better  than  any  others,  they  can  find  water,  fruits,  fish,  game, 
and  while  others  die  of  hunger,  they  are  able  to  feed  themselves 
abundantly. 

The  San,  as  also  the  ISTegrillos  and  the  Negritos,  have  no 
worship  of  the  stars ;  but  we  find  something  like  it  among  the 
Khoikhoi.  We  are  told  that  these  latter  sacrifice  beasts  to  the 
moon  and  offer  it  flesh  and  milk ;  offerings  that  are  accompanied 
by  dances,  prostrations,  and  songs  in  which  they  greet  its  return. 
They  ask  it  for  favorable  weather,  pasture  for  their  flocks,  and 
plenty  of  milk.  Peter  Kolbe,^"  an  old  missionary,  informed 
us  that  the  moon  was  regarded  as  a  lower  god,  a  visible  image 
of  the  invisible  God. 

Like  all  the  tribes  of  the  south,  the  Hottentots  also  pay 
a  sort  of  homage  to  the  Pleiades,  whose  return  coincides  with 
the  rainy  season,  impatiently  longed  for  by  the  farming  and 
pastoral  population.  -^ 

For  the  Minkopis,  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  form  a  family 
that  lives  near  the  abode  of  Puluga  (God),  but  never  enters  it. 

The  idea  which  the  primitives  have  of  the  external  world — 
a  strange  realm  into  which  it  is  dangerous  to  penetrate  without 
due  precaution — is  one  that  appeals  to  the  senses,  especially 
among  this  little  race.  So  the  San,  Negrillos,  and  NegTitos 
have  numerous  prohibitions  or  taboos:  they  are  especially  par- 
ticular not  to  make  use  of  the  earth,  of  what  nature  keeps 
concealed  from  the  eyes  of  men,  without  first  asking  permission 
by  special  rites,  offerings,  and  sacrifices.  The  San,  when  they 
discover  water  under  ground,  will  not  use  it  until  a  sacrifice 
has  been  offered  as  a  necessary  preliminary.  The  same  rule 
prompts  the  Negrillos  to  offer  the  first  fruits  of  the  Nhida 
nut. 

The  Minkopis  of  the  Andaman  Islands  give  the  name  To  mo 
to  the  first  man  created  by  Puluga.  His  direct  descendants 
are  called  Tomola.  At  their  death  they  are  transformed  into 
different  kinds  (Dr.  Man  counts  eighteen)  of  mamiferae,  birds, 
reptiles,  and  crustaceans,  besides  several  of  the  fishes.  Nat- 
urally, all  these  animals  are  forbidden. 

"  Quatrefages,  Les  Pygmees,  p.  278. 


246  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

The  Pygmies  treat  as  self-evident  the  distinction  between 
soul  and  body  and  take  great  care  that  the  mortal  remains  of 
their  brethren  shall  receive  proper  funerals.     The  double  pur- 
pose seems  to  be  to  conceal  them  from  all  observation  and  to 
hinder  their  manes  from  following  them  as  ghosts.     Belief  in 
the  survival  of  man's  spirit  is  shown,  among  them,  by  numerous 
\    facts:  it  is  for  this  reason  the  San  place  a  spear  beside  their 
I    dead  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  hunt  and  to  defend  them- 
selves.^^    According  to  Arbousset,  who  sojourned  a  long  time 
among  them,  one  of  their  proverbs  says :  "Death  is  only  a  sleep." 
The  same  is  true  of  the  Hottentots,  their  neighbors,  whom  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  on  the  word  of  La  Vaillant,  once  represented 
as  being  without  religion.    Livingstone  said  of  them :  "However 
degraded  these  populations  may  be,  there  is  no  need  of  teaching 
them  the  existence  of  God  nor  of  speaking  to  them  about  the 
future   life.      These   two   truths   are  universally   admitted   in 
.  Africa.     All  the  phenomena  which  the  natives  can  not  explain 
/  by  ordinary  causes  are  attributed  to  the  divinity.    If  you  speak 
to  them  of  a  dead  person :  He  has  gone  to  God,  they  answer.''  ^* 
"They  have  a  domestic,  individual  worship.     In  the  morn- 
ing,   at  the   first   light   of   dawn,   they   quit   their   huts   and 
go  to  kneel  behind  a  bush.     There,  with  face  turned  toward 
the  east,  they  address  their  prayer  to  Tsui-goa,  the  "Father  of 
fathers.''  ^^ 

In  each  family,  the  manes  of  their  ancestors  are  considered 
as  a  sort  of  lares  to  whom  they  pray  and  make  offerings.  Hahn 
reports  that  he  met  a  troop  of  Namaqua  beyond  the  frontiers 
of  Kalihari  led  by  a  great  woman  of  the  country,  whom  he  rec- 
ognized, and  asked  where  she  was  going.  "I  am  going,"  she 
answered,  "to  my  father's  grave  to  pray  and  weep,  for  the 
drought  and  the  Bushmen  have  ruined  us.  He  will  hear  my 
voice  and  he  will  give  success  to  my  husband  who  is  hunting 
ostriches,  so  that  we  may  have  means  of  catching  some  goats 
and  cows  that  our  children  may  live."  "But,"  the  traveler 
replied,  "your  father  is  dead ;  how  will  he  be  able  to  hear  you  ?" 

^^  Quatref ages,  p.  294. 

"Livingstone,  in  Quatrefages,  op.  cit.,  p.  292. 

"  Quatref ages,  op.  cit.,  p.  307. 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  247 

'^Yes/'  the  Hottentot  answered,  ^'he  is  dead;  but  he  merely 
sleeps.  We,  the  Khoikhoi,  when  we  are  in  trouble,  always  go 
to  pray  on  the  graves  of  our  grandparents  and  our  ancestors; 
it  is  an  ol^  custom  among  us."  ^^ 

The  Negrillos  of  equatorial  Africa  also  believe  in  another 
life.  They  bury  their  dead  standing  up,  in  a  ditch  in  the 
bed  of  a  stream,  face  turned  toward  the  sky:  "for,"  they  say, 
"it  is  to  the  sky  that  man  must  finally  ascend,"  ^^  to  the  sky 
where  he  will  find  great  hunting,  and  the  free  life  which  he 
lived  on  earth." 

The  Minkopis  think  that  every  man  possesses  in  his  body  a 
spirit  and  a  soul  which  separate  from  each  other  at  death,  but 
which  will  some  day  be  again  united.  When  a  man  dies,  his 
spirit,  after  having  haunted  the  environs  of  the  grave  and  the 
encampment  for  several  days,  arrives,  under  a  human  form, 
at  a  mysterious  locale  w^here  he  resumes  his  earthly  habits, 
hunting  the  spirits  of  beasts  and  birds  that  Puluga  sends  there : 
Puluga  is  the  supreme  God.^^ 

The  Aetas  have  likewise  a  great  veneration  for  their  dead. 

"For  several  years,"  says  Gironniere,  "they  visit  the  graves 
and  leave  on  them  a  little  tobacco  and  betel.  The  bow  and 
arrows  belonging  to  the  deceased  are  hung  over  his  grave 
on  the  day  of  his  burial,  and  every  night,  according  to  the 
belief  of  his  comrades,  he  comes  out  to  enjoy  the  hunt."  ^'^ 

San  and  Khoikhoi,  Negrillos  and  Negritos,  believe  in  genii 
whose  influence  is  frequently  felt  in  the  course  of  the  world 
and  of  man's  life.  Are  these  genii  the  spirits  of  their  ancestors, 
more  or  less  transformed,  or  are  they  other  spirits  of  inde- 
pendent origin?  We  can  not  clearly  determine.  But,  among 
the  San,  for  example,  an  evil  genius  Goha,  lives  above  us  and 
is  occupied  with  the  heavenly  phenomena,  while  a  female 
genius,  Ko,  dwells  on  the  earth.     There  are  others,  too,  one  in 

"  Ibid.,  p.  333. 
"  Le  Roy,  op.  oit. 
"  Quatrefages,  op.  cit.,  p.  189. 

^®La   Gironniere,   Vingt  annees  aux  Philippines.      (In   Quatrefages,   op. 
cit.,  p.  234.) 


/ 


248  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

particular,  a  miscliievous  genius,  Guana  or  Guanab,  feared 
likewise  by  the  Kboiklioi;  he  lives  in  a  black  heaven  and  is 
the  cause  of  all  evil.^^ 

The  Minkopis  also  believe  in  the  cliol^  who  are  descended 
from  a  common  ancestor,  maiachal:  these  are  the  executors  of 
Pulugra's  vengeances.  Men  sometimes  perceive  them  under  the 
form  of  birds  with  long  tails.  ^^ 

What  is  especially  remarkable  among  the  Pygmies  is  the 
■  notion  of  a  higher  Being,  of  God,  a  notion  that  seems  clearer 
I  among  them  than  among  many  other  tribes  superior  to  them  in 
j   several  other  respects. 

Dr.  Hahn,  who  lived  nine  years  among  the  Bushmen  and 
Hottentots,  has  devoted  a  complete  work  to  the  knowledge  of 
God  among  these  people :  Tsuin  Goam,  The  supreme  Being  of 
the  Khoikhoi,  Since  then  his  observations  have  been  confirmed. 
The  San  say  that  in  heaven  there  is  a  haang,  or  chief,  to 
whom  they  give  the  title  of  Kue-Ahenteng,  the  master  of  all 
things.  This  kaang  makes  all  beings  live  and  makes  them  die ; 
he  gives  or  refuses  the  rain;  he  sends  or  withdraws  the  game. 
They  pray  to  him  in  times  of  famine  and  while  performing 
the  dance  of  the  m^ohoma  for  a  whole  night  before  setting  out 
for  war.  "According  to  the  expressions  of  the  natives,"  says 
Arbousset,  "we  do  not  see  him  with  our  eyes,  but  we  know  him 
in  our  hearts."  ^^ 

The  Hottentots,  too,  believe  in  a  supreme  God  Gounia 
J  Tiquoia  (God  of  all  the  gods),  who  created  the  world  as  well 
as  living  beings,  and  governs  all  things.  ^^ 

The  God  told  of  by  Peter  Kolbe  is  often  assimilated  to  Tsui- 
goa  (of  Dr.  Hahn),  in  whom  the  Hottentots  see  a  kind  Father, 
all-powerful,  and  all-wise.  The  feelings  which  this  belief  in- 
spires in  them  closely  resemble  those  felt  by  the  strongest 
Christians  in  their  convictions.  Dr.  Hahn  does  not  say  this 
in  so  many  words ;  he  does  better :  he  proves  it  by  examples. 

^  Quatrefages,  op.  cit,  p.  323. 
'^Ibid.,  p.  186. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  295. 
"^Ihid.,  p.  301. 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  249 

The  interjection  Tsui-goatse  (Thou,  O  Tsui-Goa)  corre- 
sponds to  our  "Great  God!"  Stricken  by  some  misfortune 
which  he  judges  undeserved,  the  Hottentot  cries  out:  "O  Tsui- 
goa,  what  have  I  done  to  be  so  severely  punished?"  If 
unjustly  accused  and  unable  to  prove  his  innocence,  he  appeals 
to  his  god :  "O  Tsui-goa,  thou  alone  knowest  I  am  not  guilty  !" 
When  exposed  to  any  grievous  danger,  he  counts  on  the  help 
of  Tsui-goa  and,  should  he  escape,  he  attributes  his  deliverance 
to  him.^* 

We  have  said  that  the  Hottentots  possess  neither  temples  nor 
images.  However,  we  frequently  find  among  them  and  among 
the  San,  certain  consecrated  places  which  they  never  pass 
without  depositing  some  little  offering,  accompanied  by  invoca- 
tions. After  a  while,  little  heaps  accumulate  on  which  they 
throw  a  piece  of  linen,  or  some  flowers,  a  branch,  a  pebble,  what- 
ever will  enlarge  the  modest  monument.  Sometimes  they  bring 
honey  or  mead.  It  is  a  homage  to  Heitsi-Eibib,  the  grandfather 
of  the  Nama-Koa.  We  have  observed  the  same  practice  among 
the  Bantus. 

In  all  the  encampments  of  the  A-Koa  and  of  the  Beku  ii? 
the  great  Gabon  forest,  I  have  found  this  belief  in  God  perfectly 
clear  and  living.  It  is  to  God  only  that  they  annually  make 
their  curious  and  impressive  sacrifice  of  the  Nhula  nut.  One 
day  I  was  admitted  among  the  A-Jongo  of  the  Fernan-Vaz, 
a  population  of  half-breed  Negrillos,  who  pretend  to  have  pre- 
served the  primitive  traditions  of  their  race. 

I  said  to  one  of  them  who  had  been  freely  talking  with  me 
for  a  considerable  time:  "You  just  pronounced  the  name  of 
Nzamhi:  what  is  Nzambi?" 

He  replied:  ''Nzamhi  in  our  language,  is  Anyambie  in  the 
language  of  the  Nkomis  (that  is  to  say,  God)." 

"Very  well,  I  understand.  But  where  does  he  live,  what 
does  he  do,  what  do  they  say  about  him  ?" 

"Nzambi  ?  Nzambi  lives  up  above,  it  is  he  who  speaks  by 
the  thunder  to  tell  men  that  the  rain  is  going  to  fall.  Have 
you  not  heard  it  ?  There  are  days  and  nights  when  the  whole 
forest  trembles  with  it.    He  is  the  Master  of  all,  he  has  made 

**Z6«?.,  p.  303. 


250  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

everything,  arranged  everything,  and  in  his  sight  we  are  very 
small." 

"Is  it  he  who  makes  men  live?" 

"Yes,  and  he  it  is  who  makes  them  die." 

"But,"  I  said,  "when  a  man  is  dead  and  when  he  has  been 
wicked,  when  he  has  stolen  from  others,  when  he  has  murdered, 
when  he  has  poisoned,  what  is  it  that  Nzamhi  does  with  him, 
tell  me  all  that ;  afterwards  I  will  tell  you  what  we  believe." 

"Well,  listen." 

And  my  savage  assumed  an  air  of  surprising  sadness,  speak- 
ing in  a  low  voice  so  as  not  to  be  heard  by  I  know  not  what 
near-by  spirit: 

"Listen.  When  one  of  us  has  died,  his  shade  enters  the  earth 
and  plunges  very  far  down.  Then  it  rises  little  by  little,  up- 
ward, upward,  upward,  all  the  way  to  God.  If  the  man  has 
been  good,  God  says  to  him:  ^Kemain  here,  you  will  have  big 
woods  and  you  will  lack  nothing.'  But  if  the  man  has  been 
wicked,  if  he  has  stolen  the  wives  of  others,  if  he  has  killed,  if 
he  has  poisoned,  God  casts  this  larva  into  the  fire." 

"Into  the  fire  ?"  I  said,  very  much  surprised.  "Where  is  this 
fire  located  ?" 

"On  high,"  answered  the  savage. 

"Very  good,"  I  remarked  after  a  few  moments  of  silence. 
"Who  has  taught  you  these  things  ?" 

"It  is  what  we  all  say,"  he  replied.  "That  is  what  our 
fathers  thought,  and  we  think  the  same.  But  you  others,  you 
Whites,  you  must  know  still  more."  ^^  -* 

These  ideas  of  reward  and  punishment  in  the  other  life  are 
quite  remarkable,  for  I  have  found  nothing  so  clear  and  precise 
among  the  Bantu  tribes  near  by  and  in  particular  not  among  the 
Nkomis. 

Although  only  a  passing  traveler  in  the  great  forest  of  Lturi 
(Congo),  Major  Powell  Cotton  has  made  some  good  observa- 
tions on  the  Pygmies  he  met.  During  a  terrible  storm,  he  saw 
his  guide  (head  tracker)  invoke  the  aid  of  a  Higher  Power. 
One  of  his  men  likewise  noticed  a  group  of  Pj^gmies  preparing 
to  change  camp :  they  were  celebrating  a  sort  of  ritualistic  repast 

*  Le  Roy,  op.  cit. 


COMPAEISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  251 

with  offerings,  to  ask  the  Supreme  Being  to  give  them  good 
luck  on  their  new  hunting  grounds.  ^^ 

Let  us  pass  to  the  other  side  of  the  continent,  to  the  forest  of 
Sokoke  which  extends  beyond  Malindi  (Zanguebar).  One 
day  I  had  gone  astray;  after  I  had  met  and  sought  to  gain 
the  confidence  of  a  certain  chief  of  Boni  (a  group  of  Negrillos), 
we  were  talking  of  religion. 

^'Listen,''  the  old  chief  said  to  me,  "since  you  wish  to  know 
everything.  When  I  kill  a  buffalo,  I  take  a  little  piece  of  it, 
the  best,  and  put  it  on  the  fire:  part  of  it  remains  there  to 
burn,  and  I  eat  the  other  part  with  my  children.  If  I  find  some 
honey,  I  do  not  take  any  of  it  until  I  have  first  thrown  a  little 
of  it  into  the  forest  towards  the  sky.  And  when  I  have 
some  palm-wine,  I  must  first  pour  a  little  of  it  on  the  ground.  Is 
that  what  you  wish  to  know  V 

"Yes ;  but  do  you  say  nothing  while  doing  that  V^ 

"Yes,  indeed,  I  say,  for  instance,  'WaA;a,  thou  hast  given 
me  this  buffalo,  this  honey,  this  wine.  Here  is  thy  part.  Lend 
me  still  strength  and  life,  and  may  no  harm  reach  my 
children!^" 

^Nak(l  is  the  Galla  name  of  God.  I  knew  it;  but  it  was  better 
to  seem  ignorant  and  give  this  surprising  savage  the  chance  to 
explain  himself. 

"Wakar  I  said.     "Wliat  is  Waka?" 

"You  do  not  know  Waka  V  he  replied.  "He  is  the  Master 
of  everything,  he  whom  the  Swahili  call  Mu-ungu.  He  has 
given  us  these  lands,  these  forests,  these  rivers,  all  that  you 
see :  by  them  we  live.  But  he  is  severe ;  he  wishes  his  part,  and 
we  give  it  to  him." 

"Have  you  seen  him  V 

"Seen  Waka  ?  Who  could  ever  see  Waka  ?  But  he  sees  us 
very  well.  Sometimes  he  descends  into  our  encampment  and 
makes  one  of  us  die.  Then  we  bury  very  deep  in  the  ground 
him  whose  life  he  has  taken;  and  those  who  remain  go  very 
far  away:  for  it  is  dangerous  to  remain  under  the  eye  of 
God."  27 

*  Review  of  Reviews,  Nov.,  1907,  p.  495. 
"  Le  Roy,  op.  cit. 


252  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

E.  H.  Man,^^  who  made  a  most  serious  study  of  the 
natives  of  the  Andaman  Islands,  informs  us  that  they  have  a 
lofty  and  profoundly  spiritual  conception  of  Puluga,  although 
the  childlike  and  crude  mind  of  these  savages  appears  in  the 
expression  of  the  ideas  they  form  of  him.  Puluga  lives  in  a 
large  stone  house  in  the  sky,  he  eats  and  drinks,  descends  on 
the  earth  to  replenish  his  provisions,  which  consist  of  certain 
fruits,  roots,  and  grains  which  he  reserves  for  himself  and 
which  it  is  forbidden  to  touch;  he  sleeps  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  dry  season.  But  he  it  is  who  has  given  men  all  that 
is  useful  for  their  food.  When  any  one  offends  him,  he  comes 
out  of  his  house  and  sends  the  wind  storms,  the  thunder,  and 
the  lightning. 

We  quote  the  following  account  of  him  from  the  work  of 
E.  H.  Man. 

"1.  Though  his  appearance  is  like  fire,  yet  he  is  (now-a-days) 
invisible. 

"2.  He  was  never  born  and  is  immortal. 

^^3.  By  him  the  world  and  all  objects,  animate  and  inanimate, 
were  created,  excepting  only  the  powers  of  evil. 

"4.  He  is  regarded  as  omniscient,  knowing  even  the  thoughts 
of  their  hearts. 

"5.  He  is  angered  by  the  commission  of  certain  sins,  while 
to  those  in  pain  or  distress  he  is  pitiful,  and  sometimes  deigns 
to  afford  relief. 

"6.  He  is  the  judge  from  whom  each  soul  receives  its  sentence 
after  death,  and,  to  some  extent,  the  hope  of  escape  from  the 
tortures  of  jereg-lar-mugu  is  said  to  affect  their  course  of  action 
in  the  present  life."  ^^ 

There  is  no  worship  of  trees  or  rocks  or  stars,  although  some 
of  their  nocturnal  dances  appear  to  have  a  religious  character. 
But  they  have  sacrifice  and  prayers  intended  to  appease  Puluga : 
thus,  on  the  occasion  of  a  violent  tempest,  they  burn  leaves  of 
mimusopus  indica  to  calm  his  anger. 

'^  E.  H.  Man,  The  Andaman  Islands, 
"Man,  op.  cit.,  p.  89. 


COMPAEISON  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES  253 

The  ISTegritos  of  Malacca,  to  win  God's  favor,  address  invo- 
cations to  him  and  burn  benzoin,  the  odor  of  which  is  thought 
to  please  and  delight  him. 

Until  the  account  given  of  them  by  J.  B.  Logan,  the  Binua 
had  been  regarded  as  atheists.  He  relates  that  to  his  great 
surprise  these  people  of  the  Malacca  peninsula  have  what  he 
calls  a  simple  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  rational  theology.  They 
believe  in  a  god,  Pirman,  who  created  the  world,  maintains  it, 
who  is  invisible,  and  lives  above  the  sky.  Below  him  wander 
the  spirits,  the  most  powerful  of  whom  is  Jin  Bumi,  the  spirit 
of  the  earth,  to  whom  sickness  and  death  are  due. 

The  moral  characteristics  of  these  little  men  are  equally 
remarkable.  The  Andaman  natives  have  a  word  "yubba"  that 
Man  translates  by  sin,  had  action,  which  is  applied  to  lying, 
stealing,  violence,  murder,  and  adultery.  All  these  acts  are 
regarded  as  provoking  the  anger  of  Puluga,  the  Creator.  The 
family  is  respected.  The  crimes  of  rape,  seduction,  vices  against 
nature,  seem  to  be  unknown,  says  Man.  The  feeling  of  modesty 
is  universal  and  very  evident. 

Besides  the  faults  and  crimes  reproved  by  the  sense  of  justice, 
which  we  find  everywhere  in  the  primitive  conscience,  there 
are  other  acts  that  are  injurious  only  according  to  religious 
ideas  and  are  real  sins  in  the  strict  acceptation  of  the  terms. 
Such  is,  for  instance,  the  throwing  of  beeswax  into  the  fire. 
Engaged  couples  are  subjected  to  a  period  of  abstinence  during 
which  they  can  eat  neither  turtle  nor  pig  nor  fish  nor  honey. 
The  violation  of  this  prohibition  is  also  a  sin.  We  can  say 
the  same  of  the  E'egrillos  and  the  San.  In  connection  with  the 
dealings  which  Stanley  had  with  one  of  their  encampments  in 
the  great  equatorial  forest,  he  pays  homage  to  the  character 
of  their  moral  law  and  their  sense  of  justice  and  modesty. 
They,  too,  have  their  prohibitions,  the  transgression  of  which 
constitutes  a  religious  fault,  that  is  to  say  a  sin. 

The  ancient  race  of  Negrillos  and  Negritos  by  itself  could 
not  serve  as  a  sufficiently  broad  basis  for  a  theory  of  the  prim- 
itive religion  of  mankind.     But  it  happens  that  all  the  other 


254  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

races,  Black,  Yellow,  and  White,  which  form  the  fundamental 
types  of  the  human  species,  have  religious  notions  strikingly 
similar  to  those  of  our  little  primitives,  every  time  we  meet 
them  any  place  whatsoever  on  the  earth  in  a  state  of  more  or  less 
rudimentary  civilization. 
m)  First  of  all,  we  find  the  family  everywhere  established,  and 
religion  everywhere  serving  to  maintain,  strengthen,  and  purify 
it  by  prohibitions  or  taboos,  to  develop  and  protect  it  by  totemic 
t>^  pacts,  to  prolong  it  in  the  beyond  by  the  worship  of  the  manes, 
'  to  preserve  it  from  accidents,  diseases,  and  the  various  other 
evils  that  threaten  it,  and  to  try  to  ward  of!  from  it  all  dan- 
gerous influences.  The  family  is  not  the  raison  d'etre  of  prim- 
itive religion,  but  we  may  say  it  is  religion  that  organized  the 
family  and  that  the  family,  in  turn,  has  preserved  the  chief 
elements  of  religion. 

The  family  has  been  the  center  of  belief ;  it  has  also  been  the 
iftS  center  of  worship,  which  spread  from  it  to  the  encampment  or 
^    village,  to  the  clan  and  the  tribe. 

Vl^     This  family  is  monogamous  among  those  populations  that 
^    we  consider  the  most  ancient,  the  San,  the  Negrillos,  and  the 
Negritos,  save  for  a  few  exceptions  that  are  easily  explained  as 
due  to  contact  with  neighboring  tribes. 
A       Moreover,  everywhere  among  the  black  populations  polygamy 
1      prevails ;  but  a  disciplined  and  organized  polygamy  that  does 
not  destroy  the  family.    Polyandry,  which  has  spread  very  little, 
has  prevailed  in  some  small  avaricious  societies  only  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  about  the  mother  a  common  matrimonium. 
And  if  there  have  really  been  countries  where,  as  Eeclus 
maintains,  ^^^11  the  women  belonged  to  all  the  males  of  the  tribe 
f^l  without  distinction"  and  where  ^^children  had  no  other  father 
than  the  whole  of  the  warriors,"  ^^  nowhere  in  the  history  or 
'      traditions  or  in  the  observations  of  savage  peoples  do  we  see 
that  this  promiscuity  has  been  anything  but  a  condition  alto- 
gether exceptional  and  abnormal. 

On  the  contrary,  marriage  is  everywhere  surrounded  by  cer- 
tain regulations  whose  religious  character  is  evident,  whether 
these  rites  take  place  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  or  before, 
•"Elis^e  Reclus,  Primitive  Folk,  p.  157. 


\^) 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  255 

for  instance,  at  the  period  of  puberty  and  on  the  occasion  of 
the  initiation  of  youth.  With  this  idea  is  connected  the  prac- 
tice of  circumcision,  known  not  only  by  many  black  populations 
of  Africa  and  the  Polynesians  of  the  Oceanic  islands,  but 
even  by  many  tribes  of  America.  This  practice  must  be  due 
to  the  idea  that  man  can  not  enter  a  domain  reserved  by  the 
mysterious  Master  of  life,  without  first  proceeding  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  prohibition  by  a  sacrifice  expressed  by  circumcision. 
In  fact,  before  the  accomplishment  of  this  rite,  matrimonial 
relations  are  strictly  forbidden;  by  this  regulation  the  home  is 
safer  and  more  respected,  the  relations  between  neighbors  more 
guaranteed,  and  public  morality  better  protected. 

For  this  same  purpose  of  moral  protection,  with  which  the 
primitives  are  much  more  preoccupied  than  we  think,  another 
prohibition,  imposed  on  the  relations  between  near  of  kin, 
severely  forbids  incest. 

Everywhere  it  is  the  rule  for  the  young  man  to  take  a  wife 
from  outside  his  own  family. 

In  many  countries,  maternal  descent  regulates  relationship 
as  well  as  inheritance.  The  reason  is  always  the  same:  as  far 
as  possible,  to  assure  the  purity  of  the  race  and  to  give  the 
power  with  its  prerogatives,  to  the  descendants  who  really  have 
flowing  within  them  the  blood  of  the  family,  i.e.,  of  the  mother. 
Moreover,  men  from  tribes  considered  inferior,  are  not  always 
allowed  to  take  a  wife  from  a  superior  tribe. 

No  doubt,  in  the  long  run  mixtures  of  blood  do  take  place. 
But  through  the  whole  extent  of  the  African  continent,  and 
elsewhere  too,  the  scattered  members  of  the  tribe  thus  main- 
tain themselves  in  relative  purity  in  the  midst  of  other  popula- 
tions. They  often  adopt  the  language,  but  they  keep  their  own 
beliefs  and  customs,  their  own  manner  of  constructing  their 
houses,  their  own  weapons  and  dress,  their  distinctive  marks  on 
the  skin,  the  teeth,  and  hair. 

The  primitives  feel  the  need  of  distinguishing  between  them- 
selves, family  by  family,  and  tribe  by  tribe.  To  this  the  natural 
desire  to  adorn  themselves  and  to  call  attention  to  their  bodily 
advantages  by  their  dress  is  soon  added.  So  we  have  tattoos 
which  in  certain  countries,  Polynesia  for  example,  have  attained 


256  THE  EELIGION  0^  THE  PEIMITIVES 

the  height  of  an  art.    Other  tribes  have  real  coats-of-arms  traced 
on  their  shields. 

Still  others,  by  adopting  certain  ethnical  mutilations,  have 
succeeded  in  disfiguring  themselves  in  the  strangest  ways,  as 
the  Ba-yanzi  of  the  Congo,  and  the  Boto-cudos  of  Brazil. 

We  have  spoken  of  totemism  at  considerable  length.  This 
institution,  which  is  maintained  among  all  the  l^orth  American 
Indians,  is  also  connected  with  the  instinctive  religious  desire 
to  preserve  the  family  bond,  to  maintain  its  purity,  and  to 
respect  its  blood,  by  extending  its  relations  into  another  world, 
by  a  pact  with  beings  that  are  strangers  to  the  human  species, 
by  placing  the  family  under  the  continual  protection  of  invis- 
ible spirits  acting  through  a  totem. 

Totemism  has  another  effect.  The  totem  animal,  plant,  or 
object,  having  a  sacred  character,  naturally  becomes  taboo  and 
is  associated  with  numerous  prohibitions  whose  purpose  is  to 
surround  the  family  with  a  sort  of  protective  palisade. 

Although  some  of  these  prohibitions  are  puerile,  ridiculous, 
unsuitable,  others  are  highly  moral  and  socially  necessary. 
Such,  for  example,  are  certain  prohibitions  which  naturally 
create  the  sense  of  modesty  found  among  the  most  debased  tribes. 

These  various  reflections  apply  to  all  black  Africa.  Speaking 
•of  the  races  in  French  Guinea,  Andre  Arcin  writes  in  a  recent 
and  remarkable  work:  "The  black  society  is  patriarchal." 
Moreover,  the  family  "includes  not  merely  the  father,  mother, 
and  children,  but  all  the  descendants  of  the  same  ancestor.  That 
is  why  the  Blacks  of  the  same  village  call  one  another  brothers 
although  they  have  neither  father  nor  mother  in  common."  ^^ 

Thus  the  grouping  of  several  families,  in  the  strict  sense 
we  give  this  word,  forms  the  negro  family,  with  a  patriarch 
at  its  head.  When  this  group  is  agnatic  (related  in  the 
paternal  line),  it  exactly  corresponds  to  the  gens  ^omaim. 

The  totem,  known  in  Guinea  under  the  Soso  name  of  ntene, 
the  mythological  ancestor  of  the  clan,  supplies  them  with  an 

"^  Arcin,  La  Ouinee  francaise,  p.  244, 


COMPAEISON  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES  257 

emblem  and  gives  them  a  name,  althougli  to-day  this  primitive 
institution  has  lost  part  of  its  meaning. ^^ 

Further  on  Arcin  adds: 

"Private  or  family  worship  is  at  the  very  basis  of  the  social 
organization.  The  father  of  the  family,  the  patriarch  or  sec-  V^- 
ondary  chief  is  the  priest.  The  honors,  sacrifice,  and  offerings 
are  addressed  to  the  manes  of  the  family  ancestors,  and  more 
especially  to  the  founder  of  that  family  or  that  member  of  a  tribe 
from  whom  it  is  sprung."  ^^ 

We  find  the  same  ideas  and  organizations  in  all  the  ISTegritian 
tribes  of  the  ISTiger  and  Sudan  valleys. 

In  Dahomey,  the  whole  political  constitution  of  former 
days  rested  on  the  relation  of  the  king  to  his  ancestors.  This 
was  carried  to  such  a  point  that  each  time  an  unusual  event 
occurred,  the  monarch  had  to  send  the  news  to  the  other  world 
by  sacrificing  one  or  more  messengers. 

So  all  through  Africa,  they  naturally  pass  from  the  family 
constituted  in  this  way  to  the  family  surviving  beyond.  Every- 
where, beside  the  influences  of  nature  (influences  sometimes 
localized  in  fetiches,  as  on  the  coast  of  Benin,  along  the  Niger, 
in  Dahomey,  etc.),  we  find  belief  in  the  manes.  Then  come  the 
spirits,  some  of  which  seem  to  be  merely  transformed  souls, 
while  others  are  of  extra-human  origin,  and  lastly,  the  supreme 
Being  who  becomes  more  and  more  distinct  as  we  approach  the 
regions  of  the  north. 

Among  the  Worbas,  God  is  commonly  called  "Olorum,"  i.e., 
"the  Master  of  the  heavens.''  ^"^  But  a  great  number  of  other 
divinities  are  also  venerated — 401  according  to  some,  600 
according  to  others — divided  into  two  classes,  200  of  the  "right'' 
and  400  of  the  "left";  there  are  "Orishas"  who  preside  over 
the  atmosphere,  fire,  commerce,  births,  the  sea,  war,  hunting, 
farming,  etc. 

Let  us  not  forget  the  household  gods,  the  Egum,  represented 
by  the  spirits  of  the  ancestors.     The  Yorubas  inter  their  dead 

»"  lUd.,  p.  246. 
"^lUd.,  p.  422. 
"  James  Johnson,  Yoruba  Heathenism. 


258  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIYES 

in  their  houses  and  believe  that  their  spirits  continue  to  be 
interested  in  the  surviving  part  of  their  families.  A  place  is 
left  for  them,  generally  indicated  by  colored  designs  on  the 
walls  or  floor;  but  this  does  not  hinder  them  from  assigning 
another  place  of  worship  to  Esu,  an  evil  spirit  whose  image 
is  often  placed  on  the  left  of  the  entrance,  in  a  family  enclosure, 
while  another  place  is  marked  out  for  Esi,  in  the  public  square. 

The  fetichers  or  Babalawo  enjoy  an  important  place  among 
them  in  their  relations  with  the  dead,  in  the  many  sacrifices 
that  are  offered,  and  in  the  divination  and  the  interpretation  of 
omens. 

The  Yorubas  have  also  a  real  system  of  religious  morality, 
commanding  respect  for  the  gods,  obedience  to  parents  and 
other  authorities,  marital  fidelity,  the  exercise  of  hospitality, 
forbidding  murder,  stealing,  magic,  adultery,  suicide,  etc.  All 
is  based  on  an  immanent  Providence  who  rewards  what  is  good 
and  punishes  evil.^^ 

In  his  work  on  the  tribes  of  the  lower  'Niger,  Major  Arthur 
Glynn  Leonard  furnishes  similar  details.  Founding  his  study 
on  numerous  facts,  he  concludes  by  saying  that  the  religion  of 
the  natives  embraces  the  totality  of  nature,  both  material  and 
immaterial ;  that  their  essential  and  primary  belief  is  connected 
with  the  human  or  ancestral  spirits  who  busy  themselves  not 
only  with  natural  phenomena  but  continue  to  dwell  in  their 
homes;  that  this  belief  in  the  transmigration  of  spirits  under 
material  form  has  given  birth  to  totemism,  fetichism,  idolatry, 
and  sorcery;  that  the  Spirits  are  of  two  kinds:  some  with  a 
double  power  of  good  and  evil,  and  others  (which  have  never 
had  any  body)  capable  only  of  doing  evil.'''" 


36 


The  writer  adds: 

"In  the  first  place,  then,  it  is  very  evident  that  the  natives 
believe  in  the  pantheistic  or  god-supremacy  principle,  and  that 
the  Creator  or  supreme  God  and  his  existence  is  acknowledged 
by  one  and  all  of  these  people,  irrespective  of  tribe  or  local- 
ity.     .      .      .      Indeed,   strange  though   it  may  appear  to   a 

2^  Dennett,  op.  cit.,  p.  267. 
"Leonard,  The  Lower  Niger,  p.  475. 


COMPARISON"  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  259 

theologian  or  man  of  science,  and  although  these  natives  believe 
in  the  spiritualism  of  nature  and  in  witchcraft,  and  practice 
demonology,  they  believe  as  firmly  as  does,  e.g.,  the  Christian, 
that  there  is  a  Being  who  lives,  it  may  be  in  the  sky  or  it  may 
be  everywhere,  that  is  the  Father  and  the  Master  of  all 
beings/'  ^"^ 

Among  the  populations  of  the  Hamitic  family,  who  are 
especially  given  to  the  pastoral  life,  like  the  Massai,  the  Gallas, 
the  Peuls,  etc.,  the  family  organization  is  perhaps  still  more 
faithfully  preserved  than  among  the  E'egritians  and  Bantus. 
These  pastoral  people  live  in  encampments  and  move  with 
their  flocks.  The  families  gathered  about  their  chief  are 
divided  only  when  they  become  too  numerous  to  get  a  living 
together.  Under  these  conditions  jthe  form  of  worship  is  gen- 
erally and  of  necessity  of  a  family  nature. 

These  Massai  form  a  people  of  high  originality,  magnificent 
in  stature,  an  Apollo  type,  of  pastoral  and  warlike  habits.  Until 
lately  they  were  inaccessible  not  only  to  Europeans  and  Arabs, 
but  also  to  the  Bantu  and  Negritian  population,  on  whose 
borders  they  have  been  camping  for  centuries  past  along  with 
their  herds  of  oxen.  The  Massai  have  neither  temples  nor 
images  nor  fetiches  nor  amulets.  But  they  have  the  name  of 
God,  En-Ngaij  perpetually  on  their  lips. 

What  is  God,  in  their  mind  ?  It  is  rather  difficult  to  specify 
their  idea  of  him  with  all  the  precision  we  could  desire.  En- 
Ngai  is  the  sky,  animated  nature,  the  totality  of  the  universe, 
strength  of  life  spread  out  in  all  directions,  the  light — he  is 
all ;  but  much  more  justly,  he  is  the  immense  Being  whom  we 
nowhere  see,  whom  we  can  not  grasp,  whom  we  can  not  reach, 
but  who,  while  everywhere,  shows  himself  especially  at  certain 
places  in  the  world:  in  the  sky  from  which  he  sends  the  rain 
and  withholds  it,  on  the  summit  of  Kibo,  at  Kilimanjaro  where 
he  likes  to  dwell,  and  in  certain  men  in  whom  his  intellect 
appears.  When  some  of  us  missionaries  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  Africa  visited  a  Massai  encampment  for  the  first  time,  as 
soon  as  we  were  announced,  the  chief,  who  was  the  ancient 

"Ihid.,  p.  469. 


260  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

and  the  priest  of  the  place,  advanced  towards  ns  with  some  of 
his  children;  then  he  gathered  a  few  blades  of  grass  and  pre- 
sented them  to  us,  saying:  "Eeceive  this  offering,  for  in  you  we 
see  God  who  comes  to  visit  us.  It  is  He  who  has  given  us  these 
plains :  it  is  just  that  He  should  take  possession  of  some  of  it 
to-day/'  No  doubt,  that  was  only  a  manner  of  speaking;  but 
did  not  this  fashion  of  receiving  ^'the  children  of  God''  possess 
charm  and  grandeur? 

The  Massai  women  generally  pray  twice  a  day,  morning  and 
evening,  as  also  in  exceptional  circumstances,  for  instance,  while 
the  warriors  are  fighting.  The  men  and  children  pray  very 
little  except  in  time  of  drought  and  when  some  disease  afflicts 
the  cattle.  Bloody  sacrifices  are  common  especially  in  time  of 
war,  disease,  and  mourning.  They  believe  in  the  existence  of 
the  human  soul,  sufficiently  independent  from  the  human  body 
to  abandon  it  temporarily.  When  any  one  is  asleep,  he  must 
not  be  suddenly  awakened;  he  might  be  brought  out  of  his 
sleep  while  his  soul  is  absent,  and  that  would  be  his  death. 

They  do  not  fear  the  spirits,  some  of  whom  are  in  the  air, 
rambling  about  us.  When  one  of  the  cattle  fixedly  stares  into 
space,  surely  it  must  be  gazing  at  these  spirits. 

When  a  child,  a  woman,  or  an  unmarried  young  man  dies, 
his  body  is  carried  far  from  the  encampment,  his  name  is  buried 
with  him  and  must  never  more  be  mentioned  by  his  family. 
The  corpses  of  ordinary  people  are  deposited  in  a  wood  with 
the  bones  of  a  young  ox  that  has  been  sacrificed  on  the  occasion 
and  its  flesh  eaten  at  the  funeral  repast.  The  hyenas,  soon 
drawn  by  the  remains  of  the  feast,  devour  the  body  and  that 
is  the  last  of  it.  But  when  the  corpse  is  that  of  a  seer,  an 
ancient,  a  rich  man,  a  great  warrior,  or  a  prominent  chief, 
the  funeral  ceremony  begins  by  the  slaying  of  an  ox  or  a  sheep ; 
with  its  fat  they  rub  the  dead  body,  Avhieh  is  then  wrapped  in 
the  hide  of  an  ox  and  interred  in  a  sort  of  trench  under  a  tree. 
Above  it  they  put  some  stones  to  which  each  passerby  adds  a 
pebble.  The  souls  of  these  great  men  live  again  in  a  serpent 
that  is  to  be  seen  from  time  to  time  going  to  the  Icraal  of  his 
children  to  watch  over  them.  So  the  ^lassai  are  careful  not  to 
kill  the  sacred  serpent;  and  if  a  woman  sees  it  in  her  tent, 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  261 

she  hastens  to  pour  some  milk  on  the  ground  which  it  drinks 
and  then  goes  away.    Each  clan  has  its  sacred  serpent. 

Some  great  religious  chiefs,  as  Mbatyan,  go  directly  to  the 
sky  after  their  death. ^^  With  the  Gallas  or  Oromo  we  reach 
clearer  religious  notions  and  a  more  defined  organization.  In 
Oromo  language  God  is  called  ''Waka."  When  the  natives  in- 
voke him — as  frequently  happens — they  add  an  expression  of 
tender  confidence:  WaJca-yo,  ''O  good  God,"  Waha-yo-Tco,  "O 
my  good  God."  We  must  admit  that  if  their  voices  are  con- 
stantly raised  to  him  to  ask  his  help,  at  times  their  aim  is  to 
interest  him  in  some  bad  act ;  but  the  Gallas  never  blaspheme, 
nor  do  the  Massai.  They  pray  a  great  deal  in  the  form  of  lit- 
anies and  chants,  as  also  do  the  Massai ;  by  way  of  response  in 
these  sacred  chants,  there  are  refrains,  religious  expressions  and 
thoughts  that  are  sometimes  very  impressive,  lofty,  and  beauti- 
ful. One  of  their  missionaries,  Father  Martial  de  Salviac, 
writes : 

^'We  may  say  that  the  Gallas  breathe  the  idea  and  the  name 
of  God  so  often  that  Waka,  heaven,  and  the  angels  embellish 
all  their  conversations  and  speech."  ^^ 

Beneath  Waka  and  subject  to  his  orders,  the  Oromo  religion 
places  the  good  spirits,  ''Aoulia,"  i.e.,  "the  blessed." 

They  build  no  temples.  Waka's  temple  is  the  studded  vault  of 
heaven;  his  altar  is  the  surface  of  the  earth;  the  victims  to 
which  he  has  a  right  are  the  first-fruits  of  the  fields  and  of  the 
herds.  So  the  Oromo  offering  is  his  flour,  milk,  and  honey,  a 
small  portion  cast  to  the  four  winds :  the  blood  of  the  victims  is 
poured  on  the  ground  and  a  piece  of  meat  put  aside  that  a  vul- 
ture will  soon  carry  away  toward  the  sky  to  present  it,  as  the 
Arushi  say,  "to  Waka  and  the  souls  of  our  dead." 

The  chief  act  of  the  Galla  religion  is  the  Wadadja  or  cere- 
mony of  alliance  (from  Wada,  alliance).  It  is  a  family,  re- 
gional, or  national  ceremony,  according  to  the  circumstances: 
it  is  a  sacred  repast,  presided  over  by  an  officer  called  rahsa. 
Before  beginning,  a  few  drops  of  some  beverage  are  poured  on 

"Hollis,  Massai,  the  Language  and  Folklore. 
"Martial  de  Salviac,  Les  Oallas,  p.  130. 


262  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

the  ground  and  some  bits  of  wood  cast  in  four  directions,  in 
front  of  them,  behind,  to  the  right,  and  to  the  left.  Then  the 
person  officiating  stands  up  and  intones  a  prayer  to  which  all 
the  others  respond.  Toward  the  end  of  the  ceremony  the  chil- 
dren are  brought  in  to  receive  the  blessing,  symbolized  by  a 
shower  of  fine  saliva  which  the  father,  mother,  and  rahsa  void 
on  their  heads  while  pronouncing  happy  wishes.  ^^ 

In  concluding  his  account  of  the  native  religions  of  Africa, 
Eeville  writes  that 

"religion  like  society  has  nowhere  on  this  continent  attained 
to  anything  complete,  definite,  and  well  constituted.  The 
incoherence  and  undisciplined  imagination  of  the  negro,  the 
lack  of  argumentative  judgment  and  ignorant  sterility  of  the 
Kaffir,  the  imbecility  of  the  Hottentot  and  the  Bushman  have 
not  permitted  the  religion  of  nature  to  expand  into  poetical  and 
dramatic  myths  analogous  to  those  of  India  or  Greece." 

All  that  is  just.     But  he  adds: 

"J^aturism,  the  worship  of  personified  objects  of  nature, 
the  sky,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  mountains,  streams  of  water, 
is  general  in  the  African  country.  Among  all  those  peoples 
of  whom  we  have  spoken,  the  worship  of  one  or  more  of  these 
natural  phenomena  is  fundamental." 

Then  he  goes  on : 

"Animism,  the  worship  of  spirits  separate  from  nature  and 
without  necessary  connection  with  determined  natural  phenom- 
ena has  assumed  a  preponderating  and  an  absorbing  place. 
Hence  we  have  the  fetichism  of  the  negro,  a  fetichism  which 
gradually  rises  to  idolatry,  to  belief  in  sorcery  wherein  we  here 
and  there  discern  the  rudiments  of  a  regular  priesthood,  confi- 
dence in  amulets,  and  lastly  the  worship  of  the  dead  or  of  dead 
spirits  which  are  assimilated  to  the  original  spirits  of  nature 
and  with  them  enter  into  the  course  of  destiny." 

All  that  Reville  can  grant,  as  we  have  seen  above,  is  that 

"the  native  of  Africa  is  not  hostile  to  the  idea  of  a  single  all- 
powerful  God.    The  head  spirit  of  most  of  these  crude  religions 
*"  Martial  de  Salviac,  Les  Gallas,  pp.  138  sqq. 


COMPARISON"  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  263 

might  readily  become  something  like  Yahweh  or  Allah.  The 
JSTjongmo  on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  the  Waka  of  the  Gallas,  the 
god-judge  of  the  secret  societies,  the  Ounkoulounkoulou  of  the 
Kaffirs,  the  Heitsi-Eihib  of  the  Hottentots,  would  easily  lend 
themselves  to   that  transformation."  *^ 

While  the  distinguished  founder  of  the  chair  of  History 
of  Eeligions  at  the  College  de  France  has  been  at  considerable 
pains  to  investigate  the  beliefs  and  practices  of  the  Blacks,  has 
he,  alas,  been  able  to  understand  them  at  all  ? 

His  plea  is  that,  having  never  lived  among  these  popula- 
tions, he  has  had  to  begin  by  creating  their  religious  mentality 
for  himself  and  then  he  has  gone  ahead  constantly  guided  by 
that  false  light.  It  must  be  said  that  since  1883,  the  date  of  his 
studies,  the  African  populations  have  become  much  better 
known.  However,  men  like  Livingstone  and  Wilson  were  not 
witnesses  whose  testimony  he  could  afford  to  despise;  and  we 
ask  ourselves  why  Reville  always  forgets  to  cite  them  when  their 
testimony  does  not  agree  with  his  own  theories.  He  has  noth- 
ing, or  almost  nothing  to  say  about  the  ISTigritians  and  Hamites, 
who  are,  nevertheless,  so  interesting.  Evidently  the  mind  of 
this  scholar  has  been  led  astray  by  his  own  preconceived  sys- 
tem. By  virtue  of  the  dogma  of  religious  evolution,  which  we 
do  not  dream  of  rejecting  en  masse,  since  we  ourselves  intend 
to  invoke  it — but  which  it  is  dangerous  to  apply  blindly  to 
everything — it  was  necessary  that  man,  springing  from  the 
animal,  should  have  been  at  first  a  naturist,  then  an  animist, 
then  a  fetichist,  then  an  idolator,  and  finally  a  theist.  To  find 
the  knowledge  of  a  living  and  personal  God  among  the  most 
primitive  populations  would  upset  the  theory :  so  Keville,  as  well 
as  many  learned  men  of  the  same  school,  has  been  too  blind  to 
perceive  the  idea  of  God  in  Africa,  even  among  the  Gallas. 

Criticizing  one  of  his  most  illustrious  predecessors,  namely 
Herbert  Spencer,  who  set  forth  the  worship  of  the  dead  as  the 
starting  point  for  all  history  of  religions,^"  Eeville  writes : 

"The  method  employed  by  the  English  philosopher  to  dem- 
onstrate his  theory  consists   in  gleaning  from  the   abundant 

*^R6ville,  Religion  des  peuples  non  civilises,  I,  p.  188. 
"Herbert  Spencer,  Principles  of  Sociology. 


^^ 


264  THE  RELIGIOK  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

accounts  of  travelers  and  missionaries  tliat  lie  was  able  to  read, 
details  that  are  favorable  anjl  systematically  neglecting  tbe 
contrary  data.  This  method  may  deceive  the  reader  who  is 
not  familiar  with  the  vast  number  of  works,  of  varying  com- 
petency and  merit,  that  treat  of  the  life,  customs,  and  ideas  of 
the  uncivilized.  But  it  is  only  a  deceptive  way  of  arguing  that 
can  be  used  by  all  sorts  of  contrary  theses." 

Keville  is  certainly  right  in  this  criticism  of  Spencer.  But 
how  justly  it  may  be  turned  against  himself ! 

After  this  glance  at  Africa,  we  must  turn  to  the  primitive 
populations  of  Oceanica,  America,  and  even  Asia  and  Europe. 
N;  j  I  This  review  can  be  made  very  rapidly:  everywhere,  in  fact,  we 
^  /j  will  note  the  same  basis  for  religious  beliefs  and  practices  al- 
though there  are  notable  variations,  many  of  which  are  plainly 
due  to  ethnic  characteristics,  to  circumstances,  and  to  environ- 
ment. 

The  Australians,  who  have  long  been  said  to  have  no  religion, 
surprisingly  resemble  our  African  primitives  in  their  religious 
ideas.  ''They  have  an  idea  of  an  omnipotent  Being,  the  Creator 
of  heaven  and  earth,  whom  they  call  Motogon/'  He  is  a  very 
wise  and  powerful  being,  of  blackish  appearance.  When  he 
created  the  heaven,  the  earth,  the  water,  the  plants,  the  kan- 
garoos, he  breathed  and  said:  ''Heaven,  earth,  plants,  trees, 
kangaroos,  come  forth."    And  they  came  forth.^^ 

The  Australians  also  have  an  idea  of  an  evil  spirit  whom  they 
call  Cienga.  He  it  is  who  stirs  up  the  tempests,  sends  the 
heavy  equinoctial  rains,  and  makes  little  children  die  by  with- 
ering their  flesh.  He  lives  in  the  center  of  the  earth.  But  the 
savages  render  no  worship  either  to  Motogon  or  to  Cienga. 

They  likewise  believe  in  the  survival  of  the  soul,  which  is 
supposed  to  enter  the  body  of  a  bird  or  some  other  animal. 

Naturally  they  have  a  number  of  superstitious  practices  and 
often  attribute  death  to  the  influence  of  sorcerers,  who  are  able 
to  kill  at  a  distance.  This  power  resides  in  a  sort  of  stone 
which  the  sorcerer  carries  in  his  stomach ;  it  is  enough  for  him 

«  T.  B4rengier,  La  Nouvelle  Nursie,  p.  182.  See  also  Lang,  The  Making 
of  Religion. 


v^ 


COMPARISON  OF  EELIGIOISrS  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES  265 

to  hurl  a  piece  of  this  stone  at  any  one  to  destroy  him.  Strange 
to  say,  a  rather  similar  belief  exists  in  Africa  among  the  Bantu 
tribes  of  the  western  coast.  The  relatives  of  a  dead  person  are 
also  obliged  to  avenge  him. 

The  Australians,  too,  are  always  grouped  by  families,  and 
each  family  is  entirely  independent. 

As  a  sign  of  mourning,  the  women,  as  in  Africa,  utter  great 
lamentations  and  paint  their  faces  with  white  clay.  The  corpse 
is  interred  in  a  ditch  which  has  first  been  purified  by  a  fire 
lighted  there ;  beside  it  the  remains  of  the  dead  one's  last  meal 
are  placed  along  with  his  broken  weapons.  Then  near  by  they 
build  a  little  hut  and  kindle  a  big  fire  on  the  grave,  around 
which  they  sing  of  his  mighty  exploits.  This  fire  is  kept  up  for 
some  months  and  it  is  a  pious  duty  of  all  the  relatives  who  pass 
by  not  to  let  it  go  out.  Before  the  coming  of  colonists,  the 
Australians  made  their  burrying-ground  the  center  of  their 
settlements.** 

The  Malanesians,  Papuans,  Fijians,  and  ISTew  Caledonians 
*A    evidently  had  the  same  religious  beliefs,  the  same  superstitions, 
and  the  same  abominable  practices,  such  as  legal  infanticide, 
human  sacrifice,  and  anthropophagy. 

In  Oceanica,  the  idea  of  the  taboo  is  universal,  arising  from  ^f 
\))the  persuasion  that  what  is  sacred  must  be  preserved  from  all 
human  contact,  under  pain  of  sacrilege  and  misfortune.  But  it 
developed  especially  in  Polynesia.  From  there  the  term  en- 
tered European  literature.  ISTowhere  else  is  this  institution 
so  widespread,  nowhere  does  it  occupy  such  a  predominant  place 
in  life.  Once  admit  the  principle  that  one  can  not  take  or  touch 
anything  made  sacred  by  religion,  and  the  political  and  reli- 
gious chiefs  do  not  fail  to  use  it  in  the  interest  of  their  ambi- 
tions, their  profit,  and  even  their  vengeance.  They  have  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  divide  everything  into  two  classes:  what  is 
permitted  (noa)  and  what  is  forbidden  (taboo). 

Fortunately,  in  Oceanica  as  elsewhere,  the  prohibition  can 
be  removed.  But  certain  rules,  ceremonies,  ablutions,  and  sacri- 
fices are  necessary. 

"Berengier,  op.  cit.,  p.  267. 


266  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Let  us  repeat  that  there  is  need  for  some  prohibitions  and 
that  the  taboo  in  itself  contains  nothing  that  is  not  entirely 
legitimate.  If  it  does  not  pass  beyond  bounds,  it  is  nothing 
more  than  a  moral  law,  often  becoming  civil  law,  based  on  a 
religious  principle  and  bearing  a  religious  sanction. 

Another  custom  peculiarly  widespread  in  Polynesia,  more 
perfected  and  artistic  than  elsewhere,  was  that  of  tattooing. 
This  operation  was  entrusted  to  a  religious  chief  and  ordinarily 
took  place  at  the  age  of  nubility,  as  in  Africa,  where  the  initia- 
tion ceremonies  of  youth  are  quite  general.  Originally  it  was 
the  permanent  mark  intended  to  recall,  by  its  image  and  the 
designs  surrounding  it,  the  alliance  that  had  been  made  with  the 
protective  animal  or  totem  (in  Polynesian  tihi).  Thus  there 
were  hereditary  tattooings,  taking  the  place  of  coats-of-arms. 
We  have  already  referred  to  these  customs,  as  also  to  the  prac- 
tice of  wearing  certain  articles  of  dress,  of  arranging  the  hair  so 
as  to  resemble  the  allied  animal,  of  fastening  various  ornaments 
or  symbols  to  the  ears,  nose,  lips,  or  filing  the  teeth,  and  so 
forth. 

One  of  the  strangest  and  most  widespread  mutilations  cur- 
rent is  to  remove  one  joint  of  the  little  finger  on  the  occasion  of 
mourning.  This  practice  was  formerly  well  known  in  Oceanica, 
notably  in  the  Fiji  Islands.*^  At  the  funeral  of  a  great  chief, 
his  wives  used  to  dispute  the  honor  of  being  thrown  into  his 
grave.  Parents  underwent  the  amputation  of  one  finger  joint 
and  it  is  certain  that  at  some  burials  the  fingers  complete  fell 
I  beneath  the  dread  hatchet.  ISTot  even  children  at  the  breast 
were  spared. 

This  custom,  too,  is  found  in  Africa  among  the  San  and 
sometimes  among  the  ITegrillos  of  the  equatorial  forest.  It  is 
a  sacrifice.  They  intend  to  show  that  they  accompany  the  dead 
into  the  other  world  by  this  surrender  of  a  part  of  themselves. 
Or  else,  as  is  rather  the  case  in  Africa,  they  ask  the  author  of 
life  to  be  satisfied  with  what  they  cut  off  and  not  take  all; 
by  abandoning  a  part  of  their  body  to  him;  they  redeem  the 
rest. 

As  for  the  idea  of  God,  it  exists  everywhere  in  Oceanica. 

*"  Piolet,  Missions  catholiques,  IV,  Oc^anie,  p  199. 


^ 


COMPARISON  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  267 

Let  us  consider  America  next.  Erom  one  end  to  the  other 
of  this  vast  continent,  extending  from  the  north  to  the  south 
pole,  European  navigators,  ever  since  the  days  of  Christopher 
Columbus,  have  found  tribes  that  differ  in  aspect,  speech,  man- 
ners, and  civilization.  So  modern  anthropologists  agree  in  say- 
ing that  the  population  of  the  two  Americas,  before  the  coming 
of  Europeans,  was  made  up  of  the  three  fundamental  races,  the 
yellow,  the  black,  and  the  white,  mingled  in  various  propor- 
tions. 

To-day  side  by  side  and  often  in  the  same  school,  are  the 
American  Indian  and  the  descendant  of  the  African  negro. 
The  difference  between  them  is  striking.  Whereas  the  former  is 
taciturn,  reserved,  proud,  melancholy,  and  disdainful,  the  latter 
is  expansive,  vain,  and  jovial. 

But  from  the  religious  point  of  view,  we  here  find  very  nearly 
wh'at  we  liave  found  everywhere  else :  the  idea  of  a  great  Spirit 
who  rules  the  world ;  inferior  spirits  that  are  revealed  in  the 
cosmic  phenomena,  the  stars,  the  streams  and  lakes,  the  forests, 
the  animals,  the  plants,  and  that  seem  more  clearly  separated 
from  the  human  form  than  in  Africa ;_  the  souls  of  men  sur- 
viving the  destruction  of  the  body,  often  punished  or  rewarded, 
often  disappearing  into  the  unknown,  often  coming  back  among 
the  living  and  reincarnating  themselves  either  in  the  child 
whose  features  are  the  image  of  a  dead  parent  or  in  the  totem 
animal,  plant,  or  object.  _• 

We  have  observed  traces  of  totemism  in  Africa  and  Oceanica 
and  have  seen  survivals  of  this  institution  in  Asia  and  Europe,^^ 
but  America  has  been  the  scene  of  its  greatest  development,  or 
at  least  has  best  preserved  it  highly  developed. 

Individual  totems  abound  in  North  America.  They  gener- 
ally spring  from  the  dream  which  a  young  man  has  in  the  course 
of  his  initiation,  for  example,  seeing  such  an  animal  or  such 
an  object.    It  is  a  sign  that  this  is  his  totem,  i.e.,  his  ally.    For 

^In  Homer,  Virgil,  and  Ovid  the  lieroes  have  different  signs  on  their 
shields  by  which  the  warriors  are  distinguished  and  recognized.  Alexander 
the  Great  reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  give  soldiers  whom  he  wished  to 
honor  certain  marks  to  carry  on  their  armor  and  standards.  Plutarch 
{Life  of  Marius)  remarks  that  the  Teutons  and  Cimbri  had  figures  of 
ferocious  beasts  or  birds  as  emblems  on  their  shields. 


268  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

the  ceremony  of  initiation  of  youth   is  also  well  known  in 
America. 

('^)     These  same  beliefs  in  a  higher  world,  with  an  appropriate 
\     worship  and  morality,  have  been  found  among  the  primitive 
populations  of  northern  Asia  and  Europe. 

^^But  in  this  whole  area,"  says  Quatrefages,  "among  all  the 
nations  concerning  whom  our  information  is  exact,  by  the  side 
of  secondary  divinities,  or  rather  spirits  more  or  less  deified, 
is  found  a  supreme  God,  creator  and  preserver  of  the  universe. 
It  is  the  J  umbel  of  the  Laplanders,  the  Num  of  the  Samoyeds, 
the  Jumman  of  the  Votiaks,  the  Yuma  of  the  Tcheremis,  the 
Artoyon,  Schugotoygon,  or  Tangara  of  the  Jakouts.  All  these 
great  divinities  are  evidently  the  single  and  eternal  God,  of 
whom  Mangou  spoke  to  Eubruquis,  although  he  was  surrounded 
by  shamans,  the  chief  of  whom  dwelt  close  by  the  great  Khan. 
Far,  then,  from  being  incompatible  with  a  very  lofty  and 
spiritual  religious  conception.  Shamanism  shows  itself  asso- 
ciated with  this  in  the  countries  where  it  holds  the  greatest 
sway.  There,  as  at  many  other  points  on  the  globe,  coarse 
practices  and  absurd  or  childish  superstitions  have  too  fre- 
quently covered  up  and  concealed  from  Europeans  the  superior 
notions  existing  among  these  savage  populations. 

"The  Jakouts  declare  that  their  Tangara  is  invisible;  we 
know  that  the  Votiaks,  the  Tcheremis,  etc.,  celebrate  special 
festivals  in  honor  of  their  God,  and  address  to  him  prayers, 
which  present  them  to  us  in  a  most  favorable  light.  ...  In 
fine,  in  the  whole  geographical  area  here  in  question,  the 
religious  beliefs  appear  to  me  to  have  a  very  great  analogy 
with  those  of  the  ancient  Chinese,  who  also  believed  in  a 
supreme  sovereign  of  heaven  and  in  subordinate  spirits."  ^"^ 

May  we  appeal  to  the  testimony  of  the  men  whose  remains 
have  been  found  scattered  here  and  there  in  quaternary  soil? 
\       lit  would  be  interesting  to  hear  from  these  real  primitives  after 
'^ ^  having  listened  to  those  of  our  own  day. 

^  Unfortunately  we  must  renounce  any  hope  of  reconstructing 

the  beliefs  of  the  races  whose  existence  is  revealed  to  us  by  re- 
mains  found   in   alluvium.      They   have   left  no   more   trace 
*"*  Quatrefages,  Les  Pygmies,  p.  203. 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  269 

thereof  for  the  historian  than  do  the  Negrillos  and  Negritos  of 
to-day ;  although  these  do  actually  have  clearly  defined  religious 
ideas.  This  absence  of  material  proof,  therefore,  attests  only 
one  thing:  if  these  first  men  had  any  religious  beliefs,  fetich- 
ism  had  as  yet  no  part  in  them. 

But  when  remains  of  prehistoric  man  are  found  sufficiently 
well  preserved  in  tombs,  we  note  that  to  the  dead,  both  adult  and 
child,  were  left  all  that  had  been  used  by  them  in  the  way  oi 
ornaments.  Near  them  at  burial  were  placed  objects  that  we 
may  suppose  to  have  been  considered  useful  or  agreeable  foi 
them  in  another  life;  they  painted  the  bodies  of  adults  red 
(tribe  of  Menton  *^)  precisely  as  the  west  African  tribes  still 


do.  I 

In  many  prehistoric  remains  in  France  and  Belgium,  nu* 
merous  objects  have  been  found  which  Broca  himself  has  no 
hesitation  in  considering  as  amulets. 


''The  religious  spirit  of  the  men  of  the  polished  stone  period 
has  been  doubted  by  no  one.  The  belief  in  another  life  is 
evidenced  among  all  the  neolithic  tribes  by  the  remarkable  care 
given  to  burial.  Whatever  be  the  nature  of  the  tomb,  we 
always  find  there  mortuary  offerings,  which  have  become  ethno- 
graphical treasures  for  us.  Thence  have  been  brought  to  light 
most  of  the  utensils,  vases,  ornaments,  and  weapons  which  were 
to  serve  the  dead  in  their  new  existence:  our  museums  are 
enriched  with  them. 

''In  the  neolithic  tombs  numerous  amulets  have  been  found; 
it  is  needless  to  reiterate  the  significance  of  this  fact.  But  iti 
is  worthy  of  remark  that  idols  and  fetiches  are  almost  as 
entirely  lacking  as  in  the  graves  of  the  preceding  epoch."  ** 

If  the  land  of  western  Europe  conceals,  along  with  the  dust 
of  their  bones,  the  secret  of  the  religious  beliefs  of  the  first  men 
who  ventured  there,  we  are  able  to  gather  more  extensive  and 
more  precise  data  concerning  a  still  remoter  past  in  the  Orient 
where  the  constant  tradition  of  mankind  has  located  the  cradle 
of  religion. 

*^Ihid.,  Inirod.  d  V^tude  des  races  Tiumaines,  p.  278. 
*»I6td;.,p.  281. 


270  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

{  (A  In  the  Italian  peninsula  we  can  go  back  to  the  eighth  and 
even  eleventh  century  before  our  era,  in  the  case  of  the  Etrus- 
cans and  the  first  Latins.  From  astonishing  remains  in  this  re- 
gion we  observe  that  their  civilization  was  also  based  on  strict 
family  organization,  which  was  the  center  of  worship  and  re- 
ligion. 

About  the  same  epoch  and  on  the  same  basis,  the  Pelasgic 
tribes  gradually  formed  what  was  to  become  the  brilliant  Greek 
civilization,  the  spirit  of  which  is  still  alive  among  us. 

With  Carthage,  the  market  of  Sidon,  and  Utica,  the  colony 
of  Tyre,  we  are  back  to  the  twelfth  century  b.  c. 

Sidon,  "the  mother  of  the  Phoenician  cities,"  was  a  very 
active  center  of  commercial,  intellectual,  and  religious  inter- 
course with  the  most  ancient  cities,  kingdoms,  and  empires,  such 
as  Assyria,  Chaldea,  Elam — names  that  carry  us  back  to  more 
than  3000  years  before  Christ. 
V  At  a  gTeat  distance,  in  the  Far  East,  another  type  of  civiliza- 
l  1)  tion  was  at  the  same  time  developing  with  another  race.  If  the 
^  appearance  of  the  Chinese  ruler  Fu-Hi  can  not  be  maintained 
at  the  remote  date  sometimes  assigned  (3000  b.  c),  at  least 
seven  or  eight  centuries  later  Yu  or  Ya-o  appears  as  the  first  em- 
peror of  the  Hia  dynasty  and  the  historic  era  of  this  great  people 
begins.  They  also  furnish  an  example — an  altogether  secular 
proof — of  the  power  of  cohesion  and  social  conservation  coming 
from  the  strong  constitution  of  the  family  based  on  religion: 
for  that  is  the  whole  secret  of  the  long  existence  of  the  Chinese 
empire. 

In  India  the  Aryan  language  was  formed  between  2500  and 
2000  years  before  the  Christian  era.  The  first  Vedic  songs  of 
that  period  show  us  a  complete  organization  of  worship,  with 
prayer  and  sacrifice  as  its  center,  the  survival  of  the  soul  and 
future  retribution  as  its  sanction. 
V^l  But  we  must  turn  towards  Egypt  for  evidence  of  the  greatest 
antiquity,  the  most  ancient  yet  known.  In  fact  it  is  at  5000 
or  6000  B.  c.  that  scholars  place  the  vestiges  of  the  first  civiliza- 
tion of  this  astounding  people  who  seem  to  have  wished  to  rep- 
resent only  "what  is  eternal :  the  future  life  and  the  gods."^^ 

"Le  Bon,  op.  cit.,  p.  11. 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  271 

However  far  back  the  Egyptian  monmnents  take  us  into  the 
past,  the  peoples  who  built  them,  who  were  connected  with  the 
more  or  less  mixed  Barbary  race,  knew  of  other  men  who  pre- 
ceded them  in  the  Nile  valley,  who  belonged  to  the  pure  HamUic 
family. 

These  latter  must  have  driven  out  the  Negroes  or  Nigri- 
tians.    The  Nigritians  themselves  had  driven  out  the  Bantus. 

And  the  Bantus  had  perceived  here  and  there  mysterious  little 
men,  real  savages  and  real  primitives,  wandering  in  nomad    ,^     ^ 
groups,  without  cities  or  villages,  without  farms,  without  herds,  ^A*  ' 
without  industry,  without  any  of  those  things  that  seem  to  us     A*  /I 
necessary  for  the    constitution    of    a   human   society.      These  ^      ^ 
Pygmies  come  before  us  again  to-day  exactly  in  the  same  state, 
it  seems,  as  that  in  which  the  Bantus  found  them,  just  the  same 
as  later  the  Egyptian  artists  represented  them  on  the  obelisks, 
the  same  as  when  their  representatives,  the  captives  of  Pharaoh,^  . 

passed  before  the  great  eternally  smiling  Sphinx  of  Memphis.      \    ^ 
Older  than  the  Sphinx,  older  than  the  Pyramids,  older  than     l^ 
all  the  texts  preserved  on  papyrus,  camels'  bones,  bronze,  brick,     I    Y> 
or  stone,  are  these  African  Pygmies  of  ours,  whose  testimony  we    /  y 
have  examined.     More  exactly  than  hieroglyphics  could  have  /         1 
done,  they  have  told  us  their  living  thoughts.  / 

A  continent  like  Africa,  accessible  only  by  a  narrow  strip  of 
land  that  connects  it  with  Asia,  could  never  have  been  peopled 
before  the  arrival  of  our  little  men,  or  how  could  these  latter 
have  penetrated  there  ?  Never  would  it  have  been  possible  for 
them  to  open  a  passage  through  all  the  populations  of  that  im- 
mense land,  in  order  to  occupy  the  various  places  where  we 
find  them  to-day.  On  the  contrary,  we  can  understand  very  well 
that  they  arrived  alone,  with  the  only  domestic  animal  they  still 
have,  their  pitiful  little  dog,  and  found  no  one  had  preceded 
them.  So  they  established  themselves  and  multiplied  at  what- 
ever places  were  most  favorable  for  their  existence  until  the  day 
when  other  populations  surged  in  upon  them ;  then  some  of  them 
wandered  off  into  little  settlements  in  the  forests  of  the  equa- 
torial regions,  others  were  driven  to  the  extremity  of  the  con- 
tinent, and  others  were  absorbed  by  the  various  tribes  wherein 
they  have  contributed  to  the  formation  of  the  present  stock. 


272  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Wliat  has  just  been  said  of  Africa,  may  be  said  of  Asia  and 
Oceanica.  To-day  it  seems  to  be  the  common  opinion  of 
anthropologists  that  the  first  ethnic  stratum  of  all  these  countries 
must  have  been  formed  by  that  little  race  which  has  left  be- 
hind it  numerous  testimonials  and  whose  chief  characteristics 
are  maintained  to  this  very  day  in  a  certain  number  of  living 
representatives. 

Is  it  not  a  curious  fact  that,  wherever  we  find  them,  they  pre- 
tend to  be,  so  far  as  man  can  be,  the  proprietors  of  the  land 
where  they  roam  ?  To  them,  they  say,  God  gave  the  forests,  the 
plains,  the  bodies  of  water,  the  fruits,  the  game.  The  others 
merely  invade  their  domain ;  that  is  why  they,  the  ''men,"  have 
a  strict  right  to  gather  from  the  agricultural  products  and  the 
cattle  of  their  farming  neighbors  whatever  they  need  to  support 
life.  These  levies  in  a  way  compensate  for  the  wrong  which 
the  "strangers"  commit  in  penetrating  "their  forests"  and  scat- 
tering "their  game."  This  theory  has  been  explained  to  me  at 
great  length  and  quite  as  precisely  as  I  have  just  set  it  forth,  in 
various  encampments  of  ITegrillos  and  in  particular  among  the 
Boni  of  the  Sokoke  forest  (near  Malindi). 

In  southern  Africa  the  San  consider  themselves  the  first  occu- 
pants of  the  soil  and  their  conception  of  life  is  not  different 
from  that  of  their  cousins  to  the  north. 

In  Gabon  the  ISTegrillos  are  of  like  mind,  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  the  Negritos.  We  may  add  that  all  the  African 
populations  in  whose  midst  these  little  men  are  scattered,  who 
have  dispersed  them,  pursued  them  and  given  them  the  name 
of  Wa-twa,  Ba-twa,  Aba-twa,  i.e.,  "the  vagabonds"  (from  the 
verb  -ta,  ""'to  chase,  pursue";  passive  -tiva),  unanimously  ack- 
nowledge the  Negrillos'  priority  of  occupation. 

In  Gabon,  when  they  go  hunting  in  the  forest,  custom  forbids 
them  to  pronounce  the  name  of  the  Pygmies,  A-koa ;  they  must 
use  a  circumlocution  and  say,  for  instance,  "the  short  men"  or 
"the  great  race."  It  is  also  recommended,  if  they  meet  one  of 
these  little  men  and  wish  to  preserve  their  good  luck  in  the 
hunt,  that  they  offer  him  a  part  of  the  beast  that  is  slain :  by  this 
act  of  justice  they  render  homage  to  the  proprietor  and  acknowl- 
edge his  rights. 


COMPAEISON  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES  273 

But  a  question  suggests  itself.  Why  have  these  children  of 
nature  who  have  been  thus  wandering  about  for  so  many  cen- 
turies, never  progressed  along  the  road  upward  that  all  other 
men  have  taken,  with  more  or  less  consistency  and  success  ?  Are 
they,  like  the  animals,  condemned  to  that  psychical  fixity  of 
which  Eichet  speaks  ?  Are  they  incapable  ?  Are  they  unsuited 
to  progress? 

Assuredly,  the  atavism  of  the  ages,  which  to-day  weighs  upon 
them,  does  not  dispose  them  favorably  toward  progress  as  we 
understand  it.  But  they  are  what  they  are  because  they  wish  to 
be  so.  And  they  wish  to  be  so  for  this  double  reason,  as  they 
have  repeatedly  told  me:  first,  because  God  made  them  so,  be- 
cause it  is  their  ''manner"  which  they  can  not  alter  without  de- 
stroying their  race,  just  as  the  monkeys  could  not  cease  to  climb 
the  trees,  the  birds  to  fly  in  the  air,  the  fish  to  live  in  the  water. 
Then,  they  add,  since  they  have  no  need  of  houses  or  farms  or 
herds,  since  they  have  no  wealth  to  arouse  any  one's  jealousy, 
since  they  are  free  in  the  endless  forests,  living  without  labor  i 
and  knowing  all  the  secrets  of  things,  they  would  enjoy  the  best 
lot  possible  to  man  if  God  did  not  visit  their  encampments  from 
time  to  time  and  strike  down  some  of  their  number. 

In  pointing  out  the  religious  beliefs  and  practices  of  this  little 
race  and  of  those  peoples  that  are  the  most  closely  related  to 
them  by  the  sum  total  of  their  conceptions,  we  have  gone  as  far 
back  as  the  conditions  which  mankind  offers  us  to-day  render 
possible.  Compared  with  our  savages,  the  Latins,  Greeks,  Chal- 
deans, Aryans,  Chinese,  and  even  the  Egyptians  appear  to  us 
with  a  later  and  more  elaborate  civilization,  with  theogonies 
more  complicated  as  they  advance,  with  myths  that  seem  to  grow 
like  the  forests,  with  systems  supported  by  reason,  with  more 
or  less  poetic  inventions  that  give  play  to  their  imaginations, 
with  sacerdotal  organizations  wisely  hierarchical,  with  magi- 
cal practices  that  upset,  corrupt,  and  obliterate  the  religious 
data. 

At  the  same  time,  there  is  nothing  that  throws  more  light  on 
the  religion  of  these  first  later  civilizations  than  their  compari- 
son with  the  religions  of  the  primitives  of  to-day.    We  find  all 


274  THE  KELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

features,  in  some  fashion,  in  both  of  them ;  the  one  helps  us  to 
understand  the  other. 

•The  Chinese  of  the  remotest  period,  for  instance,  adored  a 
supreme  God  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  Chang-Ti  {Chang, 
^^superior";  Ti,  '^master'').  It  is  the  Mwiny'ezi  (''the  having 
power")  of  the  Bantus.  Later  on  this  all-powerful  and  all- 
great  Being  seems  to  be  confounded  with  the  heaven  {Tien),  of 
/  which  he  is  the  living,  conscious  soul.  The  same  process  took 
place  in  Africa.  In  many  parts  reluctance  is  felt  to  mention 
God  by  name,  due  to  fear  rather  than  respect ;  that  is  why  they 
say :  ^^Tlie  One  of  the  heaven.  The  One  from  on  high.  The  One 
of  the  light  {Mu-ungu,  Mu-anga,  etc.),  and  also  simply  the 
heaven,  with  a  prefix  and  a  connective  personifying  it. 
^  Maspero  tells  us  with  much  insistence  that  in  Egypt  each 
"nome''  or  district  had  a  god — and  a  god  in  three  persons ;  the 
most  ancient  monuments  mention  his  existence  and  call  him  the 
god,  the  one  god,  the  only  god.  ''But,"  he  adds,  "this  god  was 
never  god  simply.  The  only  god  is  the  only  god  Amon,  the  only 
god  Phtah,  the  only  god  Osiris,  i.e.,  a  determined  being  having 
a  personality,  a  name,  and  attributes.  The  conception  of  his 
unity  is  then  geographical  and  political  at  least  as  much  as  it  is 
religious:  Ra,  the  only  god  at  Heliopolis,  is  not  the  same  as 
Amon,  only  god  at  Thebes."^^ 

We  have  an  exactly  similar  conception  to-day  in  many  parts 
of  Africa,  notably  in  the  JSTiger  delta.  There  also  God  appears 
as  a  triad  that  seems  to  be  based  on  the  constitution  of  the  hu- 
man family,  an  image  of  the  heavenly  family.  ^^  Although  the 
supreme  God,  Creator,  Author,  Master,  and  Proprietor  of  all 
living  things,  ^^  is  Tsi,  yet  each  district  inhabited  by  a  distinct 
clan  gives  him  a  special  name :  this  is  its  God.  In  other  words, 
for  these  peoples  the  name  specializes  the  person.  And  it  would 
seem  to  them  that  if  they  called  God  by  the  name  which  every 
one  gives  him,  he  would  belong  to  them  less.  As  the  father  of 
the  family  has  a  name,  as  the  father  of  the  tribe  has  one,  it  must 
be  that  the  father  of  their  fathers,  who  is  God,  has  one  that 

"Maspero,  Histoire  ancienne  des  peuples  de  I'Orient,  p.  27. 
"Leonard,  op.  cit.,  p.  416. 


COMPAEISON  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES  275 

ranks  him,  so  to  speak,  among  them  and  at  their  head.  This  is 
what  Pierret  very  well  understood  when  he  took  as  the  epigraph 
of  his  essay  on  Egyptian  mythology  these  words:  Numimi 
nomiiia.  The  God  of  the  primitive  Egyptian  religion  was,  then, 
the  sole,  infinite,  eternal  Being,  'Hhe  only  begetter  in  the  heaven 
and  on  the  earth  who  is  not  begotten,  the  father  of  the  fathers, 
the  mother  of  the  mothers."^^ 

The  sun  {Ra),  which  is  the  most  brilliant  creature  of  the 
Almighty,  and,  as  it  were,  the  living  body  of  the  Divinity,  is 
often  assimilated  with  him :  this  is  also  noticeable  among  many 
of  the  Nigritian  tribes,  among  the  Massai,  some  of  the  Bantus, 
the  Hottentots,  the  Polynesians,  etc.  But,  in  their  mind,  God  is 
not  the  sun,  and  the  sun  is  not  God ;  the  special  connectives  that 
differentiate  these  words  in  the  Bantu  languages  plainly  show 
that;  and  the  other  tribes  likewise  assent  to  this  distinction  by 
attributing  to  God  deeds  and  movements  which  evidently  can 
not  belong  to  the  sun  as,  for  instance  according  to  the  Massai, 
his  dwelling  place  on  the  Kibo. 

Before  the  formation  of  the  kingdoms  of  Babylon  and  Nine- 
veh, the  Akkadians  and  the  Sumerians  who,  in  the  judgment 
of  most  Assyriologists,  preceded  the  Semitic  populations  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  had  a  religion  whose  basis 
was  a  belief  in  innumerable  spirits,  good  and  bad,  set  over  the 
phenomena  of  nature,  the  movements  of  the  stars,  the  vegeta- 
tion, the  preservation  of  life,  diseases,  and  death.  The  practice 
of  magic  was  held  in  great  esteem  along  with  incantations,  con- 
juring prayers,  talismans,  amulets,  exorcisms,  "envoutements," 
etc.  The  same  things  may  be  observed  throughout  the  whole 
ancient  world;  and  in  the  present  world  of  the  primitives,  in 
Africa,  Oceanica,  and  America,  everywhere. 

The  Egyptian  conception  of  the  soul  explains  the  ideas  of 
several  black  populations  on  the  same  subject,  scattered  and 
confused  but  still  perceptible.  This  soul  appears  to  them  as 
composed  of  several  envelopes:  an  animal  envelope  that  dis- 
appears with  the  body,  an  intellectual  one  that  returns  to  the 
region  of  the  spirits,  a  conscious  one  that  must  correspond  to 
the  life  of  the  man.      This    disembodied    soul    is    constantly 

"Harlez  {Diot.  apologet.  de  la  foi  catU.,  art.  "Religions"). 


276  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

searching  for  a  material  support,  and  upon  his  family  is  laid  the 
duty  of  furnishing  him  with  it. 

The  Egyptian  priests .  employed  certain  animals  as  symbols 
and  frequently  they  put  the  head  of  the  symbol  animals  on 
human  bodies  to  serve  as  these  symbols.  To  appeal  still  more 
strikingly  to  the  people's  imagination,  certain  animals  were 
reputed  to  bear,  concealed  within  them,  the  divinity,  who,  from 
this  hiding  place,  watched  over  human  beings. ^^  ISTow  this 
symbolism  is  very  well  known  in  black  Africa.  K.  E.  Dennett 
has  recently  discovered  it  accompanied  by  very  curious  details, 
in  the  region  of  Loango.  There,  as  formerly  in  Egypt,  fetich 
animals  are  consequently  venerated  entirely  apart  from  any 
totemistic  idea  or  function.  There  also  in  the  initiation  ceremo- 
nies, ritualistic  dances,  etc.,  the  fetichers  appear  with  a  mask 
representing  an  animal's  head  (the  symbol  animal)  and  are  thus 
supposed  to  be  bearers  of  the  spirit  that  is  concealed  in  that  ani- 
mal which  speaks  by  their  tongue. 

Similar  comparisons  might  be  made  with  the  same  success 
between  the  Chinese,  Aryan,  Mazdean,  Greek,  Koman,  and 
other  religions  and  the  present  beliefs  of  our  African  Blacks. 
Greece,  for  example,  at  the  Pelasgic  period,  had  no  priesthood. 

"The  fathers  of  families  and  the  chiefs  of  the  people  offered 
the  sacrifices  and  prayers.  Later  on,  these  chiefs  had  priests 
attached  to  their  person,  whom  they  appointed  to  perform  the 
ceremonies  of  worship.  Only  the  places  where  oracles  were 
given  possessed  sacerdotal  bodies  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  will 
of  the  gods  and  their  expression.  When  temples  and  sanctuaries 
were  erected,  they  naturally  had  their  ministers.  Greece  had 
then  two  principal  orders,  the  priests  and  the  diviners. 

"The  Greek  temples  were  generally  built  on  the  heights. 
Some  were  of  great  magnificence.  For  these  sites  they  chose 
the  shade  of  woods,  a  smiling  valley,  a  lofty  mountain,  the  bank 
of  a  stream,  a  location  especially  majestic,  mysterious,  or 
pleasant. 

"The  first  idols  were  merely  stones  or  rude  images ;  but  in 
the  course  of  time  they  became  works  of  art.  Temples  and 
altars  had  to  be  consecrated  by  offerings,  prayers,  ceremonies, 

"Harlez,  loc.  cit. 


COMPAEISdN  OF  EELIGIONS  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES  277 

and  particularly  by  anointings  with  oil.  Certain  enclosures 
were  also  consecrated  to  the  gods;  and  fields  Avhose  product 
went  to  the  priests. 

^The  acts  of  worship  consisted  in  sacrifices,  prayers,  and 
offerings,  libations,  and  the  burning  of  incense.  Bloody  sacri- 
fices are  said  to  have  been  introduced  only  at  a  later  date.''  ^^ 

A  great  part  of  Africa  has  neither  temples  nor  statues  nor 
fetiches.  This  was  true  also  of  primitive  Rome.  The  Latin 
adored  his  ^'gods"  in  the  woods,  in  the  fields,  without  making 
any  image  of  them.  He  had  several  classes  of  gods ;  the  ^^gods" 
of  the  heaven  or  "higher"  gods,  at  whose  head  reigned  the 
author  of  life,  the  master  of  the  empyrean  and  of  the  sun,  the 
divum  deus;  the  earthly  "gods,"  protective  and  avenging 
genii ;  the  "gods"  of  man,  consisting  of  disembodied  souls  and 
including  the  lares  and  the  penates,  connected  with  the  protec- 
tion of  the  family,  the  roads,  the  crossroads,  and  the  district, 
the  manes  or  benevolent  spirits  of  the  dead  purified  by  funeral 
ceremonies,  the  larves  and  lemures,  evil,  angry  spirits  that 
appeared  under  the  form  of  phantoms,  specters,  and  ghosts.  All 
that  is  Africa  over  again ;  it  epitomizes  the  religious  world  of 
the  Blacks. 

But  we  must  conclude.  ^' 

At  all  times  and  places,  we  have  seen  that  mankind  is  gath- 
ered into  families  and  these  families  are  bound  together  by  a 
religion.  At  the  basis  of  the  ancient  civilizations  as  also  in  the 
societies  of  primitive  form  that  are  to  be  found  up  to  our  own 
day  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  the  principal  elements  of 
that  religion  are  identical.  The  differences  pertain  to  the  ^ 
external    and    adventitious    habiliments    which    each    people,  i 

according  to  its  genius,  its  particular  nature,  its  degree  of  pg 
culture,  the  wealth,  poetry,  or  severity  of  its  imagination,  the 
boldness  of  its  spirit  or  the  discipline  of  its  organization,  has 
been  able  to  give  to  that  common  basis ;  the  differences  are  due 
to  the  neglect  into  which  it  has  let  certain  parts  fall;  to  the 
predominance  given  to  some  elements  over  others,  for  instance, 
to  magic  over  religion;  to  the  alterations,  voluntary  or  other- 


. 


278  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

wise,  undergone  in  tlie  course  of  ages,  migrations,  and  revolu- 
tions or  social  evolutions  by  the  primitive  portion  of  their 
beliefs  and  prescribed  practices. 

And  this  also  explains  a  fact  disconcerting  at  first  glance  but 
perfectly  comprehensible  to  us  now.  We  find  the  Eomans  and 
Greeks  with  a  religion  more  elaborate  but  less  pure  than  that  of 
the  Assyro-Chaldeans,  the  latter  with  beliefs  less  elevated  than 
those  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Egyptians  with  practices  more  multi- 
plied and  systems  more  complex  but  an  ensemble  less  easy  to 
penetrate  than  that  of  the  Hamitic,  :N'igritian,  or  Bantu  tribes. 
We  find  these  last  with  religious  data  more  complete  but  more 
diffuse  than  those  of  our  humble  little  Pygmies  whose  poor 
imagination  found  nothing  to  enrich  the  dogmatic  and  moral 
foundation  which  they  bore  with  them  in  their  wandering  life. 
JSTevertheless  it  has  maintained  them  through  the  long  series  of 
centuries  past  and  gone. 

To  the  eyes  of  an  impartial  observer,  the  human  family 
appears  as  a  religious  and  moral  family  in  varying  degrees, 
with  a  religion  and  a  morality  fundamentally  universal.  This 
separates  it  by  an  unbridgeable  chasm  from  that  other,  the 
animal  family  wherein  it  has  sought  alliances  but  with  which 
it  is  never  confounded.  Thus  understood  and  maintained,  the 
role  of  the  family  has  been  fundamental  for  religion.  In  fact, 
a  religious  doctrine  can  live  only  on  condition  that  it  take  root 
in  society  or  become  socialized.  It  is  the  primitive  family  with 
its  double  power  of  conservation  and  expansion  that  has  pre- 
served the  primitive  religion;  but  religion  in  turn  has  ren- 
dered the  same  service  to  the  family.  Through  beliefs,  practices, 
and  institutions  without  which  the  family  must  seemingly  have 
disappeared,  religion  has  preserved  it  and  enabled  it  to  expand. 

No  one,  we  think,  has  better  understood  or  better  set  forth 
this  role  of  the  family  in  history  than  Eustel  de  Coulanges.  We 
quote  his  testimony: 

^^If  we  transport  ourselves  in  thought  into  the  midst  of  those 
ancient  generations  of  men,"  he  writes  in  La  Cite  antique, ^'^ 

«'  P.  40. 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  279 

"we  find  in  each  house  an  altar,  and  about  that  altar  the  family 
gathered  together.  It  meets  together  each  morning  at  the 
fireside  to  offer  up  its  first  prayers,  and  again  in  the  evening 
for  the  last  prayers  of  the  day.  In  the  course  of  the  day  it 
comes  together  again  around  the  same  fireside  for  the  dinner 
which  it  partakes  of  piously  after  prayer  and  libation.  In  all 
its  religious  acts,  its  members  all  sing  hymns  together  which 
their  fathers  have  bequeathed  to  them. 

"Outside  the  house,  near  by,  in  the  neighboring  field,  is  a 
tomb.  There  several  generations  of  ancestors  rest  in  common; 
death  has  not  separated  them.  In  the  second  existence  they 
are  still  grouped  together  and  continue  to  form  an  indissoluble 
family.  Between  the  living  part  and  the  deceased  part  of  the 
family,  there  is  only  this  distance  of  a  few  steps  separating 
the  house  from  the  tomb.  On  certain  days,  determined  for 
each  one  by  his  domestic  religion,  the  living  meet  together  near 
their  ancestors.  Thither  they  bring  the  funeral  repast,  and 
there  pour  out  milk  and  wine,  place  cakes  and  fruit,  or  burn 
the  flesh  of  a  victim  for  them.  In  return  for  these  offerings, 
they  claim  their  protection;  they  call  them  their  gods  and  ask 
them  to  make  their  field  fertile,  their  home  prosperous,  and 
their  hearts  virtuous.'' 

A  little  further  on  he  continues: 

"What  unites  the  members  of  the  ancient  family  is  some- 
thing more  powerful  than  birth  or  sentiment  or  physical  force ; 
it  is  the  religion  of  the  fireside  and  of  the  ancestors.  It  makes 
the  families  form  one  body  in  this  life  and  in  the  other.  The 
ancient  family  is  a  religious  association  more  than  an  associa- 
tion of  nature.  We  do  not  pretend  that  religion  has  created 
the  family,  but  assuredly  religion  has  given  the  family  its  rules, 
and  hence  it  happens  that  the  ancient  family  has  received  a 
constitution  very  different  from  that  which  it  would  have  had 
if  only  natural  feelings  had  formed  it.'' 

Whether  we  study  savage  peoples  or  civilized  nations,  whether 
we  pass  from  Africa  to  Asia,  from  Oceanica  to  America  or 
Europe,  whether  we  go  from  present  times  back  as  far  as  we  can 
in  the  course  of  the  ages,  everywhere  we  find  the  pure  elements 
of  religion  invaded,  in  variable  but  appreciable  proportions,  by 


280  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

beliefs  and  practices  that  are  foreign  and  even  opposed,  tliat 
divert  it  from  its  purpose,  that  deform  it,  that  compromise  it. 
This  is  what  v^^e  have  designated  as  natural  magic  and  super- 
natural magic. 

Like  those  mysterious  vampires  of  Germanic  legend,  magic 
under  a  thousand  different  forms  emerges  from  nature  and 
the  supernatural  to  attach  itself  to  all  that  religion  is  intended 
to  sanctify:  the  family,  society,  morality,  belief,  prayer,  and 
sacrifice. 

This  distinction,  for  the  matter  in  hand,  is  of  capital  impor- 
tance. Because  of  their  failure  to  observe  that  distinction,  many 
historians  of  religion,  anthropologists,  philosophers,  and  sociolo- 
gists have  been  and  are  still  guilty  of  many  confusions  and 
errors. 

Must  v^e  say  it  at  last  ?  If  we  turn  our  gaze  from  the  primi- 
tives and  ancients  to  the  present  world,  we  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  in  China  and  Japan,  in  India,  Arabia,  America, 
Europe,  in  the  Buddhist,  Shintoist,  Taoist,  and  Mussulman 
religions  and  even  alongside  of  Christianity  some  living  traces 
of  that  strange  and  persistent  old  dualism.  In  our  great  capi- 
tals of  the  twentieth  century,  at  Paris,  London,  Berlin,  New 
York,  natural  and  supernatural  magic  has  its  representatives 
and  followers  who  make  fetiches  and  amulets  and  talismans, 
have  charms,  are  in  relation  with  the  powers  of  the  other  world ; 
there  are  sorcerers  and  sorceresses,  there  are  secret  societies, 
there  is  spiritism,  occultism,  masonic  and  gnostic  initiations. 
Beligion  and  magic  are  inseparable. 

Even  where  religion  seems  to  be  in  eclipse,  superstition 
advances  with  singular  vigor.  Berlin  recently  annoimced  the 
formation  of  a  school  of  sorceresses.  At  Paris,  there  is  no  free- 
thought  journal  that  does  not  contain  announcements  recom- 
mending sibyls,  cartomancians,  seers,  mediums,  talismans, 
checkered  playing  cards,  Georgian  secrets  for  succeeding  in 
everything  "not  only  inflicting  evils,  but  for  everything  that 
concerns  life,  disagreements,  reconciliations,  intimacies  of  the 
heart,   success   at  lottery,   and   at   the   tirage   d' obligations/'^^ 

^^Announcements  taken  from  Le  Matin,  the  daily  chronicler  of  which 
professes  to  be  an  absolute  materialist. 


COMPARISON  OF  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES  281 

Behold  "Argine,"  a  statuette-fetich  under  whose  patronage  a 
player  must  place  himself  or  herself  to  have  luck  at  bridge,  the 
clover  leaf  of  Argine  having  four  petals.  Argine  ''can  also 
make  a  charming  seal  that  will  bring  happiness  to  a  letter-writer 
and  to  the  one  who  receives  the  letter." 

Argine  is  manufactured  at  Paris  and  sold  for  twenty  dollars ! 


CHAPTER  IX 

CONCLUSIONS 

I.  The  End  of  an  Inquiry.  Two  objections:  are  our  primitives  primi- 
tive? Are  they  degenerates?  Final  questions  to  which  we  must 
reply. 
II.  Character  of  the  Religious  Phenomenon.  Fundamental  uni- 
versality, permanence,  and  identity.  The  religious  need  essential 
to  human  nature.     Illusion  is  impossible. 

III.  The  Necessity  of  Religion.     Morality  can  not  be  replaced  by  law. 

Belief  can  not  be  replaced  by  science.     Confusions :  what  religion  is 
and  what  it  is  not. 

IV.  The  Religion  of  the  Primitives.     What  name   shall   we  give  it? 

Necessary  eliminations:  mythology,  superstition,  magic.  Is  it 
idolatry,  fetichism,  naturism,  totemism,  animism,  manism?  A 
general  and  provisional  division  of  religions:  deists,  animo-deists. 
V.  From  the  Religion  of  the  Primitives  to  the  Primitive  Religion. 
The  materialist  theory  of  the  evolution  of  religion:  its  criticism. 
The  general  and  primary  elements  of  religion  and  magic.  Spon- 
taneous product  of  the  human  spirit  or  supernatural  intervention? 
Our  liberty  in  presence  of  the  problem.  The  naturalist  theory:  its 
reason.  The  supernaturalist  thesis:  how  to  understand  it.  Con- 
clusion. 
VI.  Christianity  in  the  Presence  of  Human  Religions.  An  accusation 
answered.  The  Catholic  religion  confounded  with  the  primitive 
religion.  Regular  evolution  and  bankrupt  evolution.  Catholicism, 
the  universal  religion,  triumphs  from  this  inquiry.  The  true  divi- 
sion of  relisrions.     Sunshine. 


I.     The  End  of  an  Inquiry 
Some  one  has  said: 

"Do  you  wish  the  explanation  of  religions,  of  their  teaching, 
of  their  rites,  of  their  precepts  ?  Go  back  to  their  origin.  You 
will  not  find  the  origins  of  these  religions  such  as  they  are 
commonly  represented ;  nor  can  they  be  discovered  in  the  mon- 
uments of  ancient  civilizations  as  these  do  not  represent  the 
earliest  state  of  mankind ;  nor  can  they  be  reached  by  reasoning 
on  the  data  furnished  by  the  natural  sciences  or  philosophy. 

282 


CONCLUSIONS  283 

"Better  than  these  as  a  source  to  explain  religion  are  the 
present  savage  populations,  who  have  halted  at  a  lower  stage 
of  social  and  religious  evolution;  who  very  nearly  represent 
what  all  humanity  primitively  has  once  been. 

"If,  then,  the  explanation  can  be  found  in  these  uncultured 
natures  of  their  religious  conceptions  and  of  what  is  connected 
therewith,  you  will  have  at  the  same  time  the  explanation  of 
the  religions  that  to-day  present  themselves  to  us  as  the  most 
perfected.  Christianity,  for  example,  in  its  most  complete  and 
most  clearly  defined  present  form,  which  is  Catholicism,  by  the 
path  of  a  long  and  imperceptible  evolution,  has  come  from  these 
humble  religious  forms  which  have  swaddled  humanity  in  its 
cradle,  from  which  humanity  tends  to  free  itself  as  it  gets 
its  growth. 

"In  those  remote  epochs,  religion  was  mingled  with  every- 
thing, as  it  was  ^the  expression  of  the  need  which  men  have  of 
uniting  to  live  the  same  feelings  and  to  exalt  the  collective 
soul.'  ^  Then,  as  each  social  fact  became  detached  from  the 
mass  to  develop  by  itself,  religion  established  itself  in  a  sep- 
arate domain,  more  and  more  narrow.-  Thus  it  comes  to  pass 
at  the  present  time  that  morality  is  separating  from  religion 
and  tending  to  form  one  body  with  the  civil  law,  as  expressed 
by  the  codes :  so  that  evil  is  what  the  government  forbids,  good 
embraces  all  the  rest.  The  'myths,'  in  turn,  'the  myths  by 
which  religion  explained  the  universe,'  are  replaced  by  science.. 
There  survives  the  organization  of  the  churches,  an  institution 
that  corresponds  to  nothing  since  it  contains  no  living  principle, 
which  may,  however,  continue  into  a  more  or  less  distant  future 
as  a  survival  of  a  long  past. 

"These  conclusions,  which  sum  up  the  history  of  religions, 
you  will  arrive  at,"  we  are  told,  "by  the  study  of  the  primitives. 
Go  to  the  primitives." 

We  have  gone  to  them.  That  our  study  might  be  conducted 
under  unimpeachable  conditions,  we  chose  at  the  outset  as  our 
field  of  study  those  primitives  whom  long  personal  association 
enables  us  to  know  the  best;  we  have  accepted  only  facts  and 

^F.'.  Lahy,  Manuel  de  Vhistoire  des  religions,  p.  32,  project  presented  to 
the  Masonic  General  Assembly  of  1907  and  approved  upon  report  of 
F.'.  Sembat, 

'The  thesis  is  borrowed  from  Durkheim  and  Reinach;  the  latter  develops 
it  at  length  in  Cults,  Myths,  and  Religions. 


(^ 


\^ 


284  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

the  views  of  men  well  known  for  their  competency  and  impar- 
tiality; we  have  deliberately  avoided  a  priori  judgments  and 
prejudiced  statements,  and  we  have  examined  the  natives  them- 
selves, their  languages,  their  practices,  what  they  think,  what 
they  believe,  and  what  they  are. 

Then  we  have  compared  the  data  thus  gathered  with  data 
obtained  among  other  similar  populations  of  the  globe,  data 
furnished  by  prehistoric  men,  and  data  that  can  to-day  be 
gathered  from  the  earliest  monuments  of  ancient  civilizations. 

And  it  is  under  these  conditions  that  we  are  about  to  set  down 
our  personal  conclusions. 

Yes,  the  reader  will  perhaps  say;  but  your  "primitives,"  as 
you  have  described  them,  are  not  at  all  the  primitives  that  we 
need  for  our  theories.     The  primitives  that  our  theories  deal 
with  are  barely  disengaged  from  animality,  they  have  no  idea 
of  a  personal  God,  no  moral  notion,  no  sense  of  shame,  they 
scarcely  distinguish  the  animate  from  the  inanimate,  they  are 
naturists  and  adore  anything  at  all. 
\      And  we  reply:     "But  these  primitives  or  savages  that  your_ 
I  theories  require  do  not  exist  anywhere  and  perhaps  never  have  _ 
(C^j  existed;  at  any  rate  it  is  impossible  to  discover  them  either  in 
/  the  present  world  or  in  the  past.'' 

f       In  reality,  the  picture  that  has  too  often  been  presented  as 
the  portrait  of  the  savage  is  a  fantastic  portrait:  the  real  sav- 
age is  a  man  like  every  one  of  us,  w^ith  his  conception  of  life,  his 
manner  of  conforming  to  his  environment,  his  civilization,  and  - 
^    his  philosophy.  J 

If  he  could  free  himself  from  the  tyranny  of  certain  prac- 
tices or  customs  most  often  inspired  by  magic,  reducing  his 
needs  to  the  minimum,  this  primitive  would  have  found  the 
means  to  be  as  happy  as  the  members  of  our  most  civilized 
European  societies,  and  often  happier.  Such,  no  doubt,  was 
quaternary  man.  Let  us  cease  pitying  him :  he  may  have  been 
less  delicate  than  are  some  of  his  descendants,  but  how  much 
more  vigorous,  stronger,  and  freer. 

Another  standpoint  is  taken  by  an  opposite  camp.     Might 
V^     not  these  primitives  or  supposed  primitives  be  degenerates ;  and 
then  what  value  would  their  testimony  have  ? 


4 


CONCLUSIONS  285 

It  is  certain  tliat  the  savage  populations  still  spread  over 
the  face  of  the  earth  have  not  always  been  what  they  are  to-day. 
They  have  traveled,  they  have  changed  their  country  and  man- 
ners, perhaps  their  language,  perhaps  their  religion,  they  have 
experienced  prosperity,  then  misfortune  and  dispersion.  We 
know,  for  example,  that  when  the  Portuguese  navigators  of  the 
sixteenth  century  descended  on  the  coast  of  western  Africa,  they 
found  in  many  places  organized  kingdoms  that  to-day  we  look 
for  in  vain.  In  the  Zamhese  valley  the  extraordinary  ruins  of 
Zimbawe  make  us  likewise  suppose  that  there  also  was  formerly 
at  least  a  powerful  colony  with  a  civilization  already  developed. 
Some  tribes  are  certainly  in  decay,  while  others  show  remark- 
able vitality  and  power  of  expansion. 

It  is  the  same  in  Oceanica  where  the  natives,  on  most  of  the 
islands,  are  the  first  to  acknowledge  that  their  ancestors  were 
much  superior  to  them ;  and  some  vestiges  of  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion found  in  Polynesia  point  the  same  way. 

In  America  the  Incas  of  Peru  and  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico,  at 
the  period  of  European  discovery,  had  reached  an  imposing 
state  of  culture. 

But  all  in  all  we  can  affirm  that  the  populations  which  to-day 
present  themselves  to  us  as  imcivilized  have  always  been  such, 
or  very  nearly.  In  Africa,  save  for  the  ancient  colony  of  Zim- 
bawe and  certain  points  on  the  eastern  coast,  we  find  no  vestige 
of  monuments,  no  trace  of  writing,  not  even  a  tradition  that 
allows  us  to  suppose  an  ancient  civilization.  It  seems  to  be 
true  that  what  the  Black  is  to-day,  he  has  always  been.  He 
was  so  represented  on  Egyptian  monuments  that  take  us  back 
to  2000  years  before  our  era.  The  Ctesias  (fifth  century 
before  Christ)  gives  a  description  of  the  Pygmies  as  exact  as 
that  furnished  by  Stanley,  when  he  found  them  in  the  great 
forest  of  Itouri. 

We  must,  then,  admit  that,  if  the  primitives  of  to-day  do 
no  longer  represent  the  primitives  of  the  prehistoric  times, 
of  the  great  dispersion,  either  as  regards  their  type  or  their 
social  condition  or  their  religious  and  moral  ideas,  they  are, 
nevertheless,  of  all  these  races,  the  ones  that  at  present  give  us 
the  most  faithful  idea  of  them. 


286  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

Let  us,  then,  frankly  accept  them  as  our  sources.  Guided  by 
the  information  we  have  sought  in  their  midst  and  responding  to 
the  invitation  of  our  adversaries,  let  us  formulate  certain  ques- 
tions and  draw  the  required  conclusions. 

1.  From  the  special  point  of  view  that  interests  us,  what  is 
the  character  of  the  "religious  phenomenon"  and  what  place 
does  it  occupy  in  the  life  of  humanity  ? 

2.  What  human  needs  does  it  answer  to  ?  As  mankind  pro- 
gresses, can  not,  must  not  religion  be  replaced,  its  morality  by 
the  civil  law,  and  its  dogma  by  science  ? 

3.  Of  what  does  the  religion  of  the  primitives  consist — what 
is  it,  and  what  is  it  not  ? 

4.  Can  we  construct  the  primitive  religion  from  the  religion 
of  the  primitives  ?  What  relation  does  it  bear  to  these  present 
religions  ?  In  that  immense  religious  ocean  in  which  all  human- 
ity moves,  is  it  possible  to  discern  a  current  of  doctrine,  sub- 
stantial, coherent,  invariable  in  its  essence,  but  capable  of 
evolving  in  intensity,  extent,  and  depth,  which  would  be  the  one 
and  universal  religion,  that  is  to  say,  the  true  religion  ? 

Our  reply  to  these  questions  must  be  very  short,  but  of  what 
great  interest  and  importance  are  the  subjects  with  which  they 
deal! 

II.     Chaeacter  of  the  Eeligious  Phejstomenox 

The  first  conclusion  that  we  draw  from  our  inquiry  is  the 
fundamental  universality,  permanence,  and  identity  of 
religions. 

This  great  fact  is  no  longer  disputed  by  any  one,  it  is  one 
of  those  matters  classified  as  "definitely  settled.'' 

"The  statement  that  there  are  nations  or  tribes  which 
possess  no  religion,"  says  Tiele,  "rests  either  on  inaccurate 
observation,  ol*  a  confusion  of  ideas.  'No  tribe  or  nation  has 
yet  been  met  with,  destitute  of  belief  in  any  higher  beings; 
and  travelers  who  asserted  their  existence  have  been  after- 
wards refuted  by  the  facts.  It  is  legitimate,  therefore,  to  call 
religion  in  its  most  general  sense  a  universal  phenomenon  of 
humanity."  ^ 

'  Tiele,  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Religions,  p.  6. 


CONCLUSIOlSrS  287 

With  Quatref  ages  we  may  add  that 

"without  doiiht  this  religion  will  be  rudimentary,  often  puerile 
or  bizarre  to  the  eyes  of  the  enlightened  European;  no  doubt 
we  shall  find  absurdities  and  contradictions  in  it;  but  for  all 
that,  it  does  not  lose  its  essential  character  any  more  than  a 
physiological  function,  breathing  for  example,  loses  its  charac- 
ter when  performed  by  lower  animals  in  a  different  and  more 
obscure  fashion  than  among  vertebrates.  All  religion  rests 
on  the  belief  in  certain  divinities.  The  ideas  that  different 
peoples  have  formed  of  these  beings  they  venerate  or  fear,  evi- 
dently can  not  be  the  same.  For  the  savage,  as  for  the 
Mohammedan,  Jew,  or  Christian,  the  being  whom  he  addresses 
is  the  master  of  his  destinies ;  like  these  others  he  prays  to  him 
in  the  hope  of  obtaining  some  blessing  or  avoiding  some  evil. 
To  remain  in  the  domain  of  facts,  this  being  is  indeed  a  God 
for  him,  and  we  must  accept  him  as  such.''  * 

Let  us  credit  this  result  to  the  activity  of  our  new  science  of 
comparative  religions.  The  investigations  instigated  by  it,  as 
by  history,  anthropology,  archaeology,  etc.,  demonstrate  in  oppo- 
sition to  Lubbock,  Spencer,  and  all  their  disciples  by  countless, 
authentic,  and  irrefutable  testimonies  that  religion  is  a  universal 

fact.  .  . 

But  this  demonstration  at  once  suggests  certain  corollaries. 

If  all  men  of  all  countries  and  all  times,  whatever  the  diver- 
sity of  appearance,  color,  habits,  or  speech,  have  the  same  physi- 
cal nature  and  the  same  moral  nature,  if  all  have  the  same 
rational  and  perfectible  intellect,  the  same  free  will,  the  same 
sense  of  morality  fundamentally,  if  all  experience  the  same 
religious  need  and  have  satisfied  that  need  in  a  itianner  essen- 
tiaUy  the  same,  why  not  admit  that  they  have  a  common 
origin  ? 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  men  actually  dwelling  on  the  earth 
had  made  their  appearance  on  different  planets  and  afterward, 
all  at  once,  were  gathered  together  in  a  general  assembly  at  some 
one  place  in  the  universe.  Noting  their  absolute  resemblance 
from  the  triple  point  of  view,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  when 
they  try  to  account  for  their  origin,  they  will  find  no  satisfac- 

*  Quatref  ages,  The  Human  Species, 


t 


V 


288  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PKIMITIVES 

tory  explanation  outside  of  one  which  assigns  them  a  common 
Author.  This  conclusion  will  be  all  the  more  patent  since  they 
have  all,  with  an  identical  physiognomy,  appeared  on  this  same 
little  point  of  the  universe,  which  is  our  earth. 

The  same  conclusion  is  set  forth  in  other  words  and  for  other 
reasons  by  the  great  scholar  whose  authority  we  have  frequently 
invoked.  ^The  application  of  physiological  laws  to  anthro- 
pology,'' says  Quatrefages,  ^'leads  us  immediately  to  recognize 
the  unity  of  the  human  species."  But  we  will  not  stop  longer 
over  this  question,  which  only  indirectly  enters  into  our  study. 

Another  consequence  of  the  fact  established  above  is  this: 
If  mankind  universally  has  felt  the  religious  need,  it  is  because 
religion  is  essential  to  the  nature  of  man.  It  is,  then,  true 
that  this  need  must  be  satisfied,  that  it  corresponds  to  something 
real  and  objective,  that  somewhere  there  exists  a  true  religion. 
When  the  magnetic  needle  turns  on  its  pivot  until  it  has  found 
the  north,  we  judge  that,  for  it  to  turn  invariably  in  that  direc- 
tion, there  must  be  a  pole  that  attracts  it.  It  is  not  otherwise 
with  the  human  soul. 

With  the  same  comparison,  Albert  Reville  in  one  of  the  best 
passages  of  his  work,  makes  a  like  observation,  although  from 
another  point  of  view.  We  have  so  often  had  occasion  to  quote 
for  the  purpose  of  contradicting  him,  that  this  time  we  can  not 
resist  the  desire  to  ask  his  support. 

^^Through  all  its  aberrations,"  he  writes,  ^'the  human  spirit 
has  always  turned  towards  the  Divinity.  From  time  to  time 
attempts  have  been  made  to  force  it  in  the  contrary  direction. 
It  has  always  resisted  and,  as  soon  as  it  could,  it  has  resumed 
its  constant  direction.  Like  the  magnetic  needle,  it  would  say 
to  us :  Such  is  my  nature !" 

So  '^religious  history  has  not  only  superstitions,  follies,  and 
ugliness  to  record.  It  includes  also  things  noble  and  splendid. 
In  it  we  meet  majestic  conceptions  and  sublime  aspirations. 
We  hear  accents  of  a  purity,  accuracy,  and  charm  so  mysterious 
and  powerful  that  we  are  involuntarily  led  to  believe  that  they 
come  from  above  the  earth.  The  religious  inspiration  in  its 
great  hours  yields   to   no   other   in  grandeur  and  fecundity. 


CONCLUSIONS  289 

Morality  has  had  to  suffer  from  religion;  it  has  also  enor- 
mously profited  from  it,  and  to-day  religion  is  still  the  only 
serious  support  for  conscience  in  the  immense  majority.  Art 
has  for  a  long  time  owed  its  finest  works  to  it,  and  it  is  not 
saying  too  much  when  we  affirm  that  without  it  philosophy 
would  never  have  heen  horn."  ^ 

Will  you  say  that  is  all  only  illusion  and  deception?     With 
one  of  our  adversaries,  will  you  say  that  the  thought  of  man 
is   afiiicted   with   an   incurable   infirmity,   that  the   history   of     ^' 
religions  is  only  the  history  of  the  necessary  errors  of  humanity  ?  Jy 

In  that  case  man  would  be  the  most  unsuccessful  of  all 
creatures,  since  the  good  to  which  he  aspires,  which  he  regards 
as  his  very  raison  d'etre,  his  life's  aim,  and  his  ultimate  pur- 
pose, would  be  only  an  illusion ;  his  very  stretching  toward  the 
desired  goal  would  be  a  constant  self-deception ;  and  during  all 
the  centuries  of  his  existence  on  the  earth,  he  would  have  ItQQn ^ 
continually  advancing  towards  nothingness!         '.  •'•  ^ 

This  would  be  a  strange  mystery,  one  more  intolerable  than 
all  the  mysteries  proposed  by  religion. 

J[t^ca^^pt.bfi_ ^0;__J[£2^Kgion  is  not^er^^^  a  psychological  /^ 
phenomenon,  but  a  psychic  necessity,  the  result  of  a  uniform 
mental  activity  which  dings  to  the  feeling  that  the  experimental 
world  is  incomplete,  if  it  appears  to  be  an  essential  element  of 
our  nature  and  an  irresistible  inclination,  this  is  because  man 
has  been  so  constituted  with  a  higher  end  in  view,  another  world, 
"which  alone  contains  what  man  desires,  that  is,  the  full  satis- 
faction of  the  intellect  by  truth,  of  the  conscience  by  holiness, 
and  of  the  heart  by  happiness. 

The  true  religion  is  nothing  but  the  true  means  for  attain- 
ing that  higher  world:  it  is  the  route  that  leads  man  to  his 
destiny."^ 

It  is  toward  this  end  that  humanity  tends  to  steer  itself,  with 
the  uncertainties,  gropings,  and  weaknesses  of  an  unbalanced 
nature,  but  with  a  really  eager  cooperative  effort  and  an  invin- 
cible persistence. 

This  point  is,  moreover,  one  which  this  new  branch  of  study 

"Reville,  ProUgomenes  de  Vhistoire  des  religions,  p.  90. 
«De  Broglie,  ProhUmes,  etc.,  p.  383. 


290  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

will  make  clearer  by  a  keener  light.  L.  H.  Jordan,  of  tlie  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  in  his  remarkable  work,  goes  so  far  as  to 
say: 

"It  is  simply  folly  to  attempt  to  write  a  Philosophy  of  Ee- 
ligion  without  first  acquainting  oneself  with  those  mental 
tendencies  and  processes  with  which  the  'New  Psychology 
deals.  ...  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  affirm,  with  Professor 
Paterson,  that  the  Materialism  and  Agnosticism  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  have  been  completely  undermined,  and  that  the 
dominant  philosophy  of  to-day  is  one  that  'finds  in  spirit  the  ulti- 
mate reality.  .  .  .  The  world  of  thinking  men  is  becoming 
increasingly  convinced  that  mind  is  the  key  to  existence  and 
that  the  processes  of  the  universe  are  a  revelation  of  thought 
and  a  pursuit  of  rational  ends.'  "  ^ 

The  same  spirit  is  manifested  by  one  of  the  greatest  scholars 
who  have  honored  England  in  recent  years,  Lord  Kelvin,  who 
wrote  in  1903 : 

"While  'fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms'  is  not  an  inappropri- 
ate description  of  the  formation  of  a  crystal,  it  is  utterly  absurd 
in  respect  to  the  coming  into  existence,  or  the  growth,  or  the 
continuation,  of  the  molecular  combinations  presented  in  the 
bodies  of  living  things.  Here  scientific  thought  is  compelled 
to  accept  the  idea  of  Creative  Power.  Forty  years  ago,  I 
asked  Liebig,  walking  somewhere  in  the  country,  if  he  believed 
that  the  grass  and  flowers  which  we  saw  around  us  grew  by 
mere  chemical  forces.  He  answered,  ^No ;  no  more  than  I  could 
believe  that  a  book  of  botany,  describing  them,  could  grow 
by  mere  chemical  forces.'  Every  action  of  human  free 
will  is  a  miracle  to  physical  and  chemical  and  mathematical 


With  an  intuition  less  reasoned  out  but  like  in  tendency, 
humanity,  in  its  humblest  as  in  its  most  distinguished  represen- 
tatives, save  rare  exceptions,  ever  turns  towards  the  Divinity, 
as  the  object,  purpose,  and  end  of  all  religion. 

^  L.  H.  Jordan,  Comparative  Religion,  p.  291. 
"  Quoted  by  Jordan,  op.  cit.,  p.  490. 


CONCLUSIONS  291 

III.     Necessity  of  RELiGioisr 

Without  denying  this  surprising  attraction,  but  rather  affirm- 
ing it,  since  it  is  no  longer  subject  to  dispute,  there  are  some 
who  pretend,  however,  that  it  represents  only  one  phase  of 
humanity.  A  day  which  has  already  dawned  will  come,  when 
morality  will  be  replaced  by  the  law  and  dogma  of  science. 
What  they  grant — and  we  must  thank  them  for  it — is  that  it 
is  proper  to  treat  these  two  great  forces,  which  are  two  great 
fictions,  with  some  consideration  because  of  the  services  they 
have  been  able  to  render  humanity  in  its  infancy 

We  are  told  that  at  first  there  must  have  been  confusion 
between  things  different  and  differently  founded  in  reason: 
moral  precepts  and  religious  precepts.  But  as  society  organ- 
ized, a  work  of  selection  and  specialization  must  have  followed. 
To  quote  the  words  of  Keinach, 

"Man  starts  with  a  mass  of  prescriptions  and  proscriptions, 
the  disregard  of  which  is  accounted  crime.  .  .  .  Experience, 
however,  quickly  shows  that  some  of  his  prohibitions  do  good 
service  to  the  order  and  security  essential  to  every  organism 
and — for  that  reason — to  all  human  society.  Conversely,  others 
are  seen  to  wear  that  stamp  of  social  inutility  which  charac- 
terizes the  purely  religious  taboo."  ^ 

In  time  these  latter  are  got  rid  of  and  only  the  others  remain, 
transformed  into  laws  resting  on  the  instinct  of  solidarity,  the 
eternal  basis  of  all  morality. 

"For  morality,"  he  says,  "is  either  social,  or  the  shadow  of  a 
dream :  there  can  be  no  question  of  a  discipline  of  custom,  save 
for  the  man  who  lives  in  a  society.  It  is,  therefore,  the  fact 
of  social  life,  not  the  arbitrary  behest  of  godhead,  that  is  the 
well-spring  of  moral  obligations."  ^^ 

Then,  too,  all  morality  has  its  expression  in  law. 

With  what  art  or  what  inadvertence  are  these  things 
recounted,  and  upon  what  confusions  are  they  based! 

•  Reinach,  op.  cit.,  p.  205. 
"  Hid.,  p.  206. 


292  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

1.  That  in  former  times  as  also  to-day  religious,  moral,  and 
social  laws  are  found  mingled  together,  is  quite  true  since 
morality  has  always  been  united,  in  some  way  or  other,  to  reli- 
gion. That  certain  of  these  prescriptions  are  legal  prescriptions, 
which  can  and  must  be  separated  and  distinguished  from  reli- 
.gion  and  even  from  morality  in  more  perfect  societies,  is  equally 
true.  But  that  all  the  religious  prescriptions  in  all  religions 
must  disappear  as  so  many  ^'useless  taboos,"  so  as  to  leave 
the  civil  "taboos"  as  the  only  necessary  ones  because  the  only 
social  ones,  is  precisely  what  must  be  demonstrated  by  proving 
that  all  religions  are  equally  false,  and  that  all  the  prescriptions 
of  all  these  religions  are  "useless"  as  a  support  for  morality. 
This  is  what  is  not  proved,  and  for  good  reason. 

2.  If  we  rightly  understand,  morality  that  is  not  social  is 
declared  to  be  only  an  appearance:  so  that  individual  morality 
can  be  what  each  one  may  wish,  provided  social  morality 
remains,  that  is  to  say,  provided  the  law  is  respected. 

Forsooth,  an  extraordinary  theory !  Evidently  morality  must 
have  a  social  tendency,  but  it  will  have  this  social  effect  only  if 
it  is  at  first  imposed  upon  the  individual  conscience.  This  is 
precisely  what  St.  Paul  wished  to  establish  in  the  passage  of 
his  Epistle  to  the  Komans  to  which  Keinach  refers: 

"Owe  no  man  anything,  but  to  love  one  another.  For  he 
that  loveth  his  neighbor,  hath  fulfilled  the  law.  For  Thou  shalt 
not  commit  adultery;  thou  shalt  not  hill;  thou  shalt  not  steal; 
thou  shalt  not  hear  false  witness;  thou  shalt  not  covet:  and  if 
there  be  any  other  commandment,  it  is  comprised  in  this  word. 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  The  love  of  our  neigh- 
bor worketh  no  evil.  Love  therefore  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law."  I'l^i 

All  these  precepts,  according  to  the  mind  of  St.  Paul,  must  be 
accepted  by  the  individual  conscience  first  of  all,  and  on  this 
condition  alone  will  they  be  respected  in  the  law. 

3.  Let  us  suppose  the  theory  put  into  practice :  the  "religious 
prescriptions  and  proscriptions"  are  ignored  as  useless,  and  also 
the  ancient  "taboos"  and  the  vain  "scruples"  and  the  inexpli- 


CONCLUSIONS  293 

cable  "modesties."     Man  remains  alone,  man  sine  verecundia, 
with  tlie  law  alone. 

Let  us  suppose  that  law  perfect,  just,  equal  for  all,  antici- 
pating everything,  applied  to  everything. 

Let  us  also  suppose  it  put  into  practice  with  all  desirable 
intelligence  and  impartiality.  ^  «g^, 

Let  us  suppose,  in  fine,  that  it  is  accepted  in  part  and  in  whole  t 
and  that,  with  nothing  but  the  law  for  their  morality  and  reli-  f 
gion,  all  citizens,  reasonable  men  although  without  shame  or  ^ 
scruples  or  superstitions,  are  disposed  to  observe  it  exactly  now  I 
under  the  watchful  eye  of  the  policeman,  instead  of  the  eye  of  J 
conscience  and  the  eye  of  God.  ^       -^ 

Do  you  not  see  outside  the  law,  in  a  domain  that  is  foreign  to 
it,  a  domain  that  it  can  never  enter,  room  still  for  the  exercise 
of  all  man's  evil  passions,  all  his  baseness,  all  his  meanness,  all 
his  treachery,  all  his  selfishness,  all  his  vice  ?  What  law,  for 
instance,  will  prevent  a  citizen  from  being  proud,  jealous,  wrath- 
ful, avaricious,  envious,  gluttonous,  lewd  ?  ^Vho  will  rule  over 
the  human  beast  within  him?  What  guaranty  will  this  man 
give  his  country,  society  ?  And  what  hope  is  there  of  forming  a 
good  social  organization  with  individuals  who  will  no  longer 
recognize  any  restraint  outside  of  the  law,  i.e.,  practically  out- 
side of  force? 

'No.    Human  law  does  not  suffice  to  discipline  man,  to  main- 
tain him,  to  elevate  him,  to  civilize  him.     He  still  needs  a 
morality.     And  for  this  morality  to  stand  firmly,  it  needs  reli 
gion  for  its  basis. 

We  may  say  the  same  thing  of  science.  "Science,"  we  are 
sometimes  told,  "is  destined  to  explain  the  universe  to  us,  to 
replace  all  the  myths,  and  to  make  all  religions  disappear." 

Here  we  find  the  same  confusions. 

1.  It  is  really  an  indication  that  we  know  nothing  of  religion 
if  we  represent  it  as  charged  with  the  duty  of  explaining  the 
universe  to  us  and  trying  to  do  so  by  means  of  various  myths, 
more  or  less  childish,  which  disappear  one  after  the  other  like 
so  much  thin  vapor  before  the  sun  of  science,  rising  above  the 
horizon. 


294  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

That  legends,  attempts  at  cosmogony,  myths,  relating  to  the 
origin  of  things,  of  men,  and  of  the  ^'gods,"  form  part  of  the 
religious  domain  of  savage  or  civilized  people,  ^^  is  an  incon- 
testable fact  that  nobody  dreams  of  disputing.  But  it  is  to 
misunderstand  religion  entirely,  as  many  have  done,  if  we  make 
it  consist  of  these  ornaments  that  sometimes  pretend  to  enrich 
it,  to  adorn  it,  to  transform  it,  v^hile  really  falsifying,  conceal- 
ing, compromising  it,  and  disfiguring  its  beauty. 

The  purpose  of  religion  is  to  connect  man  with  the  invisible 
world,  not  to  explain  the  secrets  of  the  visible  world.  This  con- 
nection is  accomplished  by  the  faith  it  offers  to  the  believer,  by 
the  morality  it  imposes,  by  the  worship  it  organizes.  Thus 
religion  resides  in  a  sphere  inaccessible  to  experimental  science 
which,  on  the  other  hand,  has  full  liberty  to  work  at  the 
methodical  exploration  of  its  own  vast  domain  and  will  only 
suffer  loss  by  departures  from  these  bounds. 

'No  doubt,  religion  is  often  deceived,  or  rather  men  are  often 
deceived  in  religion;  this  one  point  at  least  it  has  in  common 
with  science.  But  religion  and  science,  which  may  meet  on  the 
frontier  of  their  fields  of  activity,  at  times  aid,  at  others  attack 
each  other  and  exchange  rude  remarks,  answer  to  two  distinct 
needs,  so  that  they  can  not  replace  each  other.  But  there  is 
nothing  in  them  opposed  finally  to  a  definite  and  cordial  agree- 
ment. 

These  general  principles,  however,  apply  only  to  what  is  true 
in  religion  and  true  in  science.  But  that  portion  is  all  that 
counts :  the  rest  may  disappear,  the  sooner  the  better. 

But  if  we  descend  from  these  heights  to  particular  applica- 
tions, we  will  be  embarrassed. 

"Although  faith  is  above  reason,"  says  the  Vatican  Council, 
"yet  there  can  never  exist  any  real  discord  between  faith  and 
reason  because  it  is  the  same  God  who  reveals  the  mysteries 
and  communicates  the  faith,  who  gives  to  the  human  soul  the 

"For  what  particularly  concerns  Christianity,  read:  J.  Guibert,  Les 
croyances  et  les  sciences  de  la  nature.  You  will  see  there  that  if  the 
Biblical  authors  have  spoken  of  science,  conformably  to  appearances  and 
in  the  scientific  language  of  their  time,  they  have  simply  been  reasonable. 
"In  this  hypothesis,  neither  religious  sincerity  nor  scientific  truth  is  en- 
dangered."    (P.  259.) 


CONCLUSIONS  295 

light  of  reason.  But  God  can  not  contradict  himself,  and  the 
truth  can  not  be  in  contradiction  with  the  truth.  The  vain 
appearance  of  a  contradiction  of  such  a  kind  conies  from  this : 
that  the  dogmas  of  the  faith  are  not  understood  and  set  forth 
according  to  the  mind  of  the  Church,  or  because  some  erroneous 
opinions  are  taken  for  the  certain  teaching  of  reason."  ^^ 

Thus  in  mathematics,  astronomy,  zoology,  physics,  chem- 
istry, biology,  linguistics,  and  in  the  other  fields  of  human 
knowledge,  the  Catholic  scholars  that  we  find  in  these  branches 
can  move  at  their  ease  in  the  passionate  search  for  truth.  Eeli- 
gion  claims  the  right  to  reexamine,  not  science,  but  such  par- 
ticular opinions  and  provisional  hypotheses  as  she  finds  contrary 
to  her  faith. 

This  is  why,  under  the  protection  of  these  explanations  and 
these  reservations,  we  can  subscribe  and  gladly  do  subscribe 
to  the  declarations  that  terminate  Keville's  Prolegomenes  de 
VHistoire  des  Religions. 

''On  the  condition  that  they  be  well  understood,  religion  in 
itself  and  independent  science  should  never  be  hostile  to  each 
other,  because  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  do  not  answer  the  same 
needs  and  can  not  be  substituted  for  each  other.  If  science 
springs  from  the  intellectual  need  of  knowing  the  real  and 
the  true  in  all  things,  religion  satisfies  aspirations  of  another 
sort  which  are  not  less  natural  nor  less  inherent  in  the  human 
spirit.  Science  proceeds  methodically,  using  a  hypothesis  only 
provisionally,  always  subject  to  experience.  It  is  essentially 
analytical  and  can  never  arrive  at  a  universal  synthesis  which, 
however,  the  mind  desires.  N"o,  even  were  no  longer  anything 
hidden  from  it  in  regard  to  those  matters  of  which  it  treats, 
even  might  it  pass  without  a  moment  of  doubt  from  under- 
standing the  formation  of  the  nebulsB  to  understanding  the 
formation  of  the  least  infusoria,  all  that  would  make  only  a 
sum  after  all,  that  it  had  obtained;  and  the  universe  is  more 
than  a  sum,  it  is  the  infinite. 

"How,  then,  would  science  proceed  to  divide  experimentally 
the  unity  that  binds  together  the  totality  of  beings?  How 
would  it  determine  the  entire  course  of  a  river  whose  source 
and  mouth  are  both  beyond  its  observation  ?  Science,  sovereign 
mistress  in  the  domain  of  the  finite,  can  not  pass  beyond  it 

"  Constit.  dogm.  Dei  Filius,  cap.  IV,  De  fide  et  ratione. 


296  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

without  contradicting  herself.  Her  best  qualified  representa- 
tives, dominated  as  they  are  by  exclusively  analytical  habits 
of  thought,  sometimes  imagine  they  have  made  the  synthesis 
solely  because  they  have  carefully  enumerated  all  the  facts, 
little  and  big,  whose  series  forms  an  object  of  study.  Let  us 
suppose  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  in  the  living  body  there 
are  only  mechanical,  physical,  and  chemical  laws  in  action,  and 
that  men  of  former  times  were  dreaming  when  they  spoke  of 
vital  force  or  of  animal  spirits;  that  all  the  compartments  and 
circumvolutions  of  the  human  brain  have  been  labeled  and 
the  role  of  each  in  the  mental  operations  precisely  determined. 
That  would  be  marvelous;  but  do  you  think,  for  all  that,  the 
slightest  shadow  of  an  explanation  of  life  and  thought  has  been 
given  ?  Where  is  the  central,  the  directive  cause,  the  source 
of  harmony  and  permanent  coordination  ?  It  eludes  you ; 
nevertheless,  it  is  there.  This  difficulty  would  be  multiplied 
indefinitely  if  the  synthesis  of  the  universe  were  the  issue. 

^'Eeligion,  not  in  one  only  of  its  traditional  forms,  but  in 
its  fundamental  and  persistent  claim,  has  this  word  to  say: 
^I  do  what  you  can  not  do;  I  proclaim  what  you  dare  not 
utter;  I  fill  the  immense  void  that  your  finest  researches  leave 
unexplored.  I  am  the  indestructible  aspiration  of  the  human 
heart.  I  am  the  voice  from  the  depths  of  the  soul.  I  am  the 
bond  uniting  human  dust  to  absolute  thought;  in  this  un- 
fathomable abyss,  the  edge  of  which  you  are  fated  to  reach  by 
the  very  momentum  of  your  activities,  I  sound  the  sovereign 
reality,  that  which  really  is;  I  perceive  in  the  bottomless  gulf 
a  voice  that  calls  me  and  I  discern  a  light  that  draws  me  on. 
Perchance  I  deceive  myself  in  the  ideas  I  form  of  it.  It  may 
well  be  that  I  possess  only  some  approximations,  symbols,  and 
reflections. 

'^  'What  does  that  matter  ?  You  men  of  science  are  not  quite 
sure  that  you  know  exactly  the  nature  of  the  sun,  and  yet  does 
that  hinder  you  from  living  in  its  light  and  heat?  In  the 
same  way,  I  dare  to  affirm  the  reality  of  my  object,  inde- 
pendently of  the  ideas  I  endeavor  to  form  of  it,  and  that  is 
sufficient  for  me.  Continue  your  useful,  admirable  works. 
You  adore  the  Eternal  while  seeking  its  truth  in  the  world: 
let  me  seek  in  it  the  complete  ideal,  the  presentiment  of  which 
raises  me  above  the  earth  and  whose  foretaste  brings  me  in- 
effable delights ;  and  let  us  live  in  peace !'  " 


CONCLUSIONS  297 

With  still  greater  precision  and  with  Christianity  especially 
in  mind,  Brunetiere  said :  ^'Science  and  religion  are  separate^^ 
domains,  as  Claude  Bernard  wrote,  in  which  everything  should 
keep  its  place.  It  is  the  only  way  of  avoiding  confusion  and  of 
assuring  progress  in  the  physical,  intellectual,  political,  and 
moral  order."  It  is  to  the  ''intellectuals''  and  against  their 
views  there  is  need  of  showing  that  science  has  neither  sup- 
pressed mysteries  nor  has  the  immutability  of  nature's  laws 
closed  the  world  to  the  action  of  the  supernatural.  There  is 
need  of  showing  them  that  the  immutability  of  dogma,  far  from 
opposing  the  development  of  religious  progress,  is  its  condition ; 
that  such  immutability  of  dogma  is  the  sole  foundation  of  moral- 
ity, since  there  is  no  morality  without  an  imperative  to  com- 
mand it  and  a  sanction  to  assure  it;  that  this  morality,  the 
morality  of  the  Decalogue  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  is  the 
common,  indivisible,  universal,  inalienable  good  of  all  human- 
ity; that  true  progress,  perhaps  the  only  form  worthy  of  the 
name,  would  be  to  succeed  in  engraving  on  all  hearts  the  pre- 
scriptions of  this  morality ;  and  that,  in  fine,  Christianity  alone 
is  capable  of  preparing  and  consolidating  that  progress — I  mean 
Christianity  purified  from  all  party  spirit  and  restored,  so  to 
speak,  to  its  universality.^* 

lY.     The  Keligion  of  the  Peimitives 

Let  us  return  to  our  primitives. 

If  they  have  a  religion — and  we  think  we  have  proved  that 
they  have  one — what  name  are  we  to  give  it?  What  is  its 
origin?  From  that  origin  can  we  conjecture  with  probability 
the  origin  of  all  religions  ?  And  lastly,  what  is  the  position  of 
Christianity  in  regard  to  the  primitive  religion  ? 

To  answer  these  different  questions,  we  must  first  eliminate 
mythology,  superstition,  and  magic.  We  thereby  free  religion 
from  what  forms  part  of  it  in  the  eyes  of  many,  but  which  in 
reality  burdens  it  as  with  a  parasitic  growth,  conceals  it,  impov- 
erishes it,  discredits  it,  and  compromises  it. 

""Distinct  domains"  would  be  more  just. 

"F.  Brunetiere,  Discours  de  combat  (New  series,  p.  119).  Quoted  in 
Remie  d'apolog4tique,  March  1,  1908. 


298  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Mythology  is  the  collection  of  legends  relating  to  the  gods, 
the  origin  of  the  world  and  what  it  contains,  the  first  accounts  of 
the  tribe,  the  marvels  of  nature.  It  may  pass  for  an  ornament 
with  a  religious  appearance;  doubtless  it  contains  interesting 
and  curious  information,  reminiscences,  allusions  and  data,  but 
it  is  no  more  religion  than  it  is  history. 

ISTor  is  superstition.  Superstition,  made  up  of  vain  observ- 
ances, is  an  aberration  or  a  deviation  of  religious  sentiment. 
As  the  fruit  of  ignorance,  credulity,  imagination,  and  the  ardent 
desire  to  attain  certain  effects,  like  a  parasite  it  grows  on  all 
religions  and  even  outside  all  religions,  with  this  difference: 
some  religions  perpetually  strive  to  free  themselves  from  it, 
others  tolerate  it,  and  still  others  nourish  it. 

Magic  includes  incantations,  conjurations,  charms,  witch- 
craft, "envoutements,"  sorceries  of  all  sorts,  with  the  constant 
support  of  the  secret  societies.  It  is  also  found  everywhere, 
and  everywhere  is  very  nearly  the  same:  in  the  savage  tribes 
actually  existing  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  in  the  great 
civilizations  of  ancient  Chaldea,  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome,  etc., 
among  the  developed  peoples  of  India,  China,  Japan,  as  well  as 
in  the  most  cultivated  European  and  American  societies.  It  is 
a  fact. 

'Not  only  is  magic  not  religion,  it  is  the  conscious  counterfeit 
and  decided  enemy  of  religion.  Its  avowed  and  universal  claim 
is,  in  fact,  a  claim  to  accomplish  its  purpose  in  spite  of  religion, 
to  force  the  activity  and  secrets  of  the  invisible  world  to  its 
service,  to  use  them,  and  to  use  them  against  God. 

Two  German  ethnologists,  Preuss  and  lately  Vierkandt,  place 
magic  at  the  origin  of  religion.  Before  them,  J.  H.  King^^ 
had  maintained  the  same  thesis,  and  to  a  certain  degree,  J.  G. 
Frazer.^^  A  like  tendency  is  noticeable  in  France/^  in  H. 
Hubert  and  Nauss  as  also  in  A.  van  Gennup.^^  Perhaps  both 
magic  and  religion  made  their  appearance  in  the  world  at  about 
the  same  time.  But  from  the  purely  historic  point  of  view  we 
can  not  say  that  one  is  the  origin  of  the  other.     What  seems 

^"King,  The  Supernatural:  Its  Origin,  Nature,  and  Evolution. 

^®  Frazer,  Golden  Bough. 

"  In  the  Annee  sociologique,  1904,  pp.  1-146. 

^^  Revue  des  traditions  populaires^,  XIX,  1904,  p.  553. 


CONCLUSIONS  299 

now  to  be  ascertained  is  that  magic,  natural  or  supernatural, 
clings  to  the  side  of  religion  and  strives  to  turn  it  from  its 
object.  In  studying  the  beliefs  and  practices  of  savage  or 
civilized  populations,  their  mythologies  and  history,  if  we  wish 
to  avoid  exposing  ourselves  to  numerous  and  regrettable  blun- 
ders, it  is  necessary  to  hold  constantly  before  our  minds  this 
fundamental  distinction. 

As  sharply  as  possible,  therefore,  the  religion  of  the  prim- 
itives should  be  separated  from  magic,  mythology,  and  super- 
stition. We  are  then  able  to  see  that  it  consists  in  a  recognition 
of  the  manes,  of  tutelary  spirits,  and  of  a  sovereign  Being,  the 
master  of  nature  and  father  of  men,  with  moral  observances  and 
the  practice  of  prayer,  offering,  and  sacrifice. 

This  religion  is  not  idolatry.  Idolatry  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  word  consists  in  the  adoration  of  images  considered  as  the 
representation  of  a  divinity;  which  does  not  appear  in  the 
primitive  religions.  We  detect  it  only  later  on  among  nations 
already  cultured,  with  dispositions  more  or  less  artistic,  that 
seem  to  have  been  led  little  by  little  to  confound  spirit  with 
matter,  the  element  with  its  symbol,  the  god  with  his  image. 
Let  this  term  be  retained,  if  you  like,  to  designate  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Komans  and  Greeks;  it  does  not  belong  to  our 
primitives. 

Their  religion  is  not  fetichism,  by  which  we  mean  that 
fetichism  is  not  their  whole  religion,  but  an  element  of  religion 
among  some  of  their  number.  We  do  not  find  it,  for  example, 
among  the  most  primitive  savages,  the  San,  the  Negi'illos,  and 
the  Negritos ;  we  do  not  find  it  anywhere  in  Africa,  Oceanica, 
or  America.  Moreover,  fetichism  implies  the  existence  and 
action  of  a  spirit  under  the  material  covering  to  which  he  has 
been  called ;  by  this  very  fact  it  supposes  an  anterior  animism. 
It  is,  therefore,  not  a  primary  fact  "even  though  everything 
leads  us  to  believe  that  it  is  extremely  ancient."  ^^  This  enables 
us  to  see  "how  little  scientific  strictness  governs  the  successive 
categories  which  the  school  of  Comte  applies  to  religious  devel- 
opment." This  is  Reville's  reflection,  a  surprise  coming  from 
"R^ville,  Proleg.  de  Vhist.  des  religions,  p.  80. 


300  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

tlie  pen  of  an  author  who  himself  has  not  failed  to  establish 
"successive  categories"  which  the  facts  do  not  justify. 

This  author  thinks  he  can  show,  under  the  name  of  naturism, 
that  the  "worship  of  visible  nature"  has  preceded  all  others. 
Many  other  ethnologists  follow  this  view,  some  considering  the 
stars  as  the  object  of  the  first  adorations,  others  the  animals, 
plants,  or  inanimate  objects:  such  are  Goblet  d'Alviella  in 
Belgium,  Tiele  in  Holland,  S.  W.  Powell  in  America,  Fro- 
benius,  Usener,  and  Siebeck  ^^  in  Germany.  According  to  Fro- 
benius,  "animalism"  names  the  period  when  man  had  not  yet 
grasped  the  difference  separating  him  from  the  beast.^^  Ac- 
cording to  Siebeck,  in  the  beginning  there  was  a  period  in 
which  "there  i^  no  very  clear  difference  between  what  is  per- 
sonal and  what  is  natural,  between  the  living  and  the  non-living, 
between  the  psychical  and  the  corporal."  "^  In  reality  all  these 
assertions  are  perfectly  undemonstrable  hypotheses.  What  can 
be  said  with  the  greatest  certainty  is  that  the  most  attentive 
examination  of  present  savage  populations  proves  that  this 
pretended  naturism,  in  the  sense  given  it  here,  does  not  exist 
and  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  it  ever  did  exist.  It 
would  be  useless  for  us  to  repeat  our  previous  discussion  of  this 
subject. 

Of  totemism,  given  a  position  of  honor  in  England  by  J.  G. 
Frazer,  F.  S.  Jevons,  and  W.  Kobertson  Smith,  and  in  France 
by  Solomon  Eeinach  especially,  we  have  made  a  particular 
study.  It  is  simply  a  more  or  less  magical  pact  attached  to 
the  organization  of  the  family  which  must  be  very  ancient :  but 
it  plainly  presupposes  a  belief,  and  is,  if  you  like,  a  preexisting 
religion. 

This  religion  must  be  animism,  according  to  Tylor,  whom 
we  have  so  often  had  occasion  to  quote.  Assuredly  this  term 
might  seem  a  happy  one  to  designate  the  religion  of  the  prim- 

*°W.  Schmidt,  Uorigine  de  Vid6e  de  Dieu  (in  Anthropos,  no.  1,  1908, 
p.  12). 

^^Ibid.,  p.  250. 
^Ibid.,  p.  252. 


CONCLUSIONS  301 

itives  and,  in  general,  would  suit  it  very  well.  But  the  precise 
meaning  given  it  by  Tylor,  Tiele,  and  their  school,  a  meaning 
we  can  not  admit  in  all  its  details,  is  such  as  to  make  us 
abandon  it  in  order  not  to  fall  into  disagreeable  equivocation. 
This  system  is  based  on  the  hypothesis  that  an  extensive  reli- 
gious evolution  has  taken  place  in  the  sense  that  the  crudest 
first  ideas  were  little  by  little  elevated  and  perfected ;  hence 
the  conception  of  a  superior,  personal  God,  the  author  and 
master  of  the  world,  must  have  arisen  only  in  religions  already 
advanced,  among  cultivated  peoples,  in  the  bosom  of  more  or 
less  elaborated  civilizations.^^  But  how,  then,  does  it  happen 
that  the  China  of  to-day,  for  instance,  has  a  less  precise  knowl- 
edge of  God  than  ancient  China  possessed?  How  explain  the 
same  phenomenon  in  India  ?  Whence  does  it  come  that  the 
Komans  and  Greeks,  with  a  mythology  much  richer  and  more 
abundant  and  more  poetic,  had  a  religion  less  pure  than  that 
of  the  negroes  of  Africa?  And  what  happens  to  the  theory 
when  we  observe  that  these  negroes  are  religiously  and  morally 
below  the  Pygmies  and  Negritos,  who  are,  in  other  respects, 
the  lowest  of  men  ? 

As  D.  G.  Brinton  remarks, 

^'This  universal  postulate,  the  psychic  origin  of  all  religious 
thought,  is  the  recognition,  or,  if  you  will,  the  assumption  that 
conscious  volition  is  the  ultimate  source  of  all  Force  .  .  .  that 
man  is  in  communication  with  it/^  ^^ 

But  that  conscious  will  is  precisely  the  Being  whom  we 
call  God.  Tylor's  system,  then,  turns  against  its  author; 
making  use  of  the  same  facts,  we  can  legitimately  put  at 
the  base  of  his  edifice  the  Spirit  whom  he  reserves  for  its 
crown. 

Animism,  if  it  keep  to  the  restricted  and  systematic  sense 
commonly  given  it,  is  not  the  religion  of  the  primitive. 

Manism  is  an  expression  more  correct  in  certain  respects; 
but  it  seems  to  have  too  narrow  a  significance. 

^  That  there  has  been  a  religious  evolution,  we  consider  certain,  but  not 
in  the  sense  here  intended.    See  the  remainder  of  this  study. 
**  D.  G.  Brinton,  Religions  of  Primitive  Peoples,  p.  47. 


302  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

Finally,  the  purest  religions  rest  first  of  all  on  a  belief  in 
God  and  the  homage  due  to  him  and  since,  in  all  the  others,  this 
first  plane  is  occupied  by  the  worship  of  the  dead  and  of  spirits, 
while  the  idea  of  God  is  never  completely  absent,  it  seems  that 
we  might  group  the  totality  of  beliefs  into  two  great  classes : 

Deist  religions,  including  Christianity,  Judaism,  and  Islam; 
animo-deist  religions,  which  would  include  the  paganism  of 
savage  races,  along  with  the  national  religions  of  the  Chinese, 
the  Japanese,  the  Hindus,  etc. 

But  in  proposing  this  division  and  these  names,  we  wish  to 
state  that  we  attach  to  them  only  a  relative  and  provisional 
importance ;  for,  on  the  one  hand,  it  is  really  difiicult  to  include 
imder  precise  appellations  a  collection  so  complex  as  that  of  the 
religious  beliefs  of  mankind  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the 
succeeding  pages  of  this  study  we  may  be  able  to  propose  a  more 
correct  classification. 

V.  Feom  the  Religion  of  the  Primitives 
TO  THE  Primitive  Religion 

The  names  and  systems  we  have  just  mentioned  are  not  the 
only  ones  that  have  been  imagined  during  these  recent  years 
to  explain  the  "religious  phenomenon.''  Their  very  multi- 
plicity proves  their  fragility.  It  is  a  simple  fact  that  not  one 
of  them  all  completely  satisfies  minds  most  desirous  of  being 
convinced. 

We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  is  nothing  in  them  but 
error.  There  may  be  in  each  of  them,  there  certainly  are  in 
several,  exact  observations,  very  just  appreciations,  ingenious 
remarks,  indisputable  but  incomplete  theories,  and  especially  a 
number  of  facts  that  may  be  regarded  as  settled;  these  are  to 
be  found  in  Tylor,  in  Frazer,  in  W.  R.  Smith,  even  in  the 
frankly  partisan  works  so  blindly  materialistic  of  Girard  de 
Rialle,  A.  Lefevre,  and  Dr.  Letourneau.  These  men's  theory 
loses  its  value  when  it  pretends  to  set  itself  up  as  a  universal 
system  which  comprises  the  religious  development  of  the  human 
race  in  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future. 

Whatever  be  the  particular  and  varied  systems  by  which  one 


CONCLUSIONS  303 

attempts  to  explain  the  genesis  and  development  of  religions, 
one  always  returns  to  the  theory  of  evolution,  which  dominates 
and  rules  them  all. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  study,  we  mentioned  it  ^^  and  we 
must  return  to  it.  In  a  general  way  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
considers  everything  that  exists  as  belonging  to  an  autonomous 
and  necessary  process,  passing  from  the  simple  to  the  composite. 
In  religious  matters,  for  instance,  evolution,  in  the  materialistic 
sense  commonly  given  it,  endeavors  to  show  religion  arising 
and  developing  in  the  spirit  of  man,  and  successively  creating 
all  the  objects  of  belief,  from  the  personified  or  animated  nature 
of  the  most  rudimentary  religions  to  the  supremely  perfect 
God  of  the  highest  religions. 

The  exposition  of  this  doctrine  as  ordinarily  presented  wears 
an  air  of  plausibility  that  astonishes  and  seduces.  But  when 
we  examine  it  more  closely,  weak  points  appear  in  great  num- 
ber, and  already  many  objectors  have  abandoned  it.  To  the 
general  objection  already  stated,^^  we  will  content  ourselves 
with  adding  a  few  reflections. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  according  to  the  words  of  John  Morley, 
^Wolution  is  not  a  force,  but  a  process;  not  a  cause,  but  a 
law."^"^  But,  since  religion,  like  civilization,  is  a  living  organi- 
zation, we  need  not  ask  that  evolution  shall  have  created  it,  but 
only  that  it  shall  have  presided  over  its  development:  this  we 
gladly  admit  along  with  St.  Vincent  of  Lerins  and  the  whole 
Catholic  school.  The  two  greatest  English  representatives  of 
this  evolutionist  school,  Charles  Darwin  and  John  Fiske,  grad- 
ually reached  the  conviction  that  there  exists  "a  supreme  and 
infinite  Intelligence''  behind  the  forces  of  nature  and  that  the 
existence  and  activity  of  this  Being  must  be  frankly  recognized 
as  the  basis  of  every  system  attempting  to  explain  the  plan  of 
the  imiverse.^s  Evolution,  then,  does  not  replace  God :  it  pre- 
supposes him,  as  a  law  presupposes  a  legislator. 

2.  We  have  already  said  that    the    evolutionist    school,    by 

"See  Chapter  II    {Evolution  and  Religion). 

''Ihid. 

"  John  Morley,  On  Compromise,  p.  169. 

*  Jordan,  op,  cit.,  p.  231. 


304  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

attributing  very  crude  ideas  to  religions  at  their  origin,  com- 
mitted an  a  priori  blunder.  That  these  first  notions  must  have 
.,n  been  very  simple,  little  complicated,  and  few  in  number,  we 
7"  believe  and,  in  fact,  everything  seems  to  indicate  that  it  was  so. 
But  what  is  simple  is  not  necessarily  crude,  shapeless,  and 
miserable.  The  idea  of  a  substance  distinct  from  matter,  which 
is  our  reasoning  power,  as  also  that  of  a  sovereign  Being,  author 
and  master  of  the  world,  is  quite  natural,  reasonable,  and  at  the 
same  time  very  simple;  the  proof  is  that  our  poor  Negrillos 
have  these  notions,  perfectly  clear.  Eeligion,  instead  of  pro- 
gressively arriving  at  these  concepts,  may  quite  well  have 
started  with  them. 

3.  Moreover,  there  always  remain  various  obscure  points 
'^  that  evolution  never  succeeds  in  clearing  up.  Why,  for  instance, 
does  the  human  being  show  himself  religious  to  such  a  degree 
that  religion  is  a  psychological  necessity  for  him,  while  no 
animal  manifests  a  like  tendency  in  any  of  its  representatives  ? 
If  religion  in  man  is  only  the  simple  product  of  evolution,  how 
does  it  happen  that  this  evolution  does  not  germinate  at  least 
the  first  stages  of  a  religious  and  moral  disposition  in  those 
animals  w^hich  are  the  closest  to  our  species  ? 

The  comparative  study  of  religions  shows  us  that  men  in 
general  have  always  had  some  knowledge  of  the  Invisible  and 
the  Infinite :  this  argues  religion  to  be  a  need  of  nature.  Evolu- 
tion gives  no  explanation  of  this  psychological  necessity. 

Evolution  does  not  explain  the  idea  of  God  in  the  most  primi- 
tive races,  the  least  advanced,  the  nearest — if  we  may  say  so — • 
to  animality.  Strangely  enough,  the  idea  is  clearer,  simpler, 
freer  from  mythical  conceptions,  as  we  penetrate  more  remotely 
into  the  past  history  of  nations,  as  among  the  Indians  and  the 
Chinese,  or  as  we  descend  lower  on  the  ladder  of  civilization, 
as  among  the  Pygmies. 

Evolution  does  not  explain  the  numerous  cases  of  religious 
retrogression,  at  least  as  frequent  as  the  cases  of  progress,  in 
the  entire  universe.  If  there  is  any  ascertained  fact,  it  is  the 
perpetual  tendency  of  peoples,  even  the  Semitic  peoples,  to 
polytheism,  fetichism,  and  idolatry:  which  is  altogether  con- 
trary to  an  evolutionary  march  toward  the  most  perfect. 


CONCLUSIONS  305 

Evolution  does  not  explain  the  presence  of  tlie  religious 
instinct  in  man,  nor  of  the  moral  conscience.  As  the  biologist 
sees  himself  obliged  to  refer  the  origin  of  life  to  a  power  com- 
pletely surpassing  the  limits  within  which  his  examination  is 
conducted,  the  evolutionist  is  likewise  forced  to  suppose  these 
two  fundamental  bases  of  all  religion  and  all  morality  as 
preexisting  before  the  action  of  his  doctrine  began  its  work. 

In  short,  "evolution  in  religion  is  not  now  held  to  have 
produced  religion ;  it  is  rather  regarded  as  having  merely  given 
to  religion  a  factor  which  was  already  in  existence — its  form 
and  impulse  and  direction.''^^  What  has  yet  to  be  established 
and  what  we  will  later  on  examine  is  the  part  taken  by  nature 
and  the  supernatural  in  this  very  direction. 

Whence,  then,  comes  religion,  and  whence  comes  magic? 

Let  us  leave  Christianity  aside  for  the  time;  we  will  come 
back  to  it  presently.  Aside  from  Christianity,  then,  we  observe 
that  the  human  race,  at  present  and  in  the  past,  obeys  various 
institutions  of  a  special  nature,  called  "religions.''  If  we  suc- 
cessively eliminate  what  distinctively  characterizes  each  one  of 
them,  we  shall  arrive  at  a  common  basis  where  they  all  meet :  a 
first  observation,  both  interesting  and  precious. 

Let  us  take  Islam,  the  most  recent  of  the  great  religions ;  let 
us  subtract  what  is  special  to  it,  what  specifically  distinguishes 
it.  Let  us  do  the  same  for  modern  Judaism,  for  Mazdaism, 
Buddhism,  Brahmanism,  Taoism,  and  Confucianism. 

Following  the  same  process,  let  us  pass  to  the  ancient  civiliza- 
tions of  Eome,  Greece,  Phoenicia,  Chaldea,  Assyria,  Egypt. 

Continuing  to  eliminate  what  distinguishes  them,  let  us  take 
up  the  rudimentary  religions  of  the  more  or  less  primitive 
populations  belonging  to  the  white,  yellow^,  black,  brown,  red,  or 
mixed  races,  in  the  different  parts  of  the  world. 

What  do  we  find  beneath  all  these  religious  strata  which  like 
geological  deposits  have  been  superposed,  unequally  indeed  but 
constantly,  in  the  course  of  ages  upon  the  bare  surface  of  the 
human  soul  ? 

We  find  a  small  number  of  beliefs,  precepts,  practices,  and  in- 
^Ihid.,  p.  338. 


306 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 


stitutions  which,  as  they  are  at  the  base  of  all  the  rest,  may 
reasonably  be  considered  as  the  primary  elements  of  religion 
and  of  its  counterfeit,  magic.  These  elements  are  found  every- 
where, here  more  effaced,  there  more  distinct.  They  are 
approximately  as  follows. 


Beligion 

1.  Distinction  between  the  vis- 
ible world  and  an  invisible  world. 

2.  Feeling  of  man's  depend- 
3nce  in  the  presence  of  this  higher 
world,  particularly  in  the  use  of 
nature. 

3.  Belief  in  a  supreme  Being, 
creator,  organizer,  and  master  of 
the  world,   as  well   as   father  of 


Magic 

1.  Distinction  recognized. 

2.  Dependence  not  accepted. 


3.  Belief,  but  not  practical  rec- 
ognition: magic  leaves  God  to 
religion. 


4.  Belief  in  independent  spir- 
its, some  tutelary,  the  others  hos- 
tile. 

5.  Belief  in  the  human  soul, 
distinct  from  the  body,  conscious, 
surviving. 

6.  Belief  in  a  world  of  the  be- 
yond, where  the  spirits  live, 
where  souls  survive. 

7.  Universal  moral  sense,  based 
on  the  distinction  between  good 
and  evil:  a  sense  of  shame,  jus- 
tice, responsibility,  liberty,  duty; 
explicit  or  implicit  recognition 
of  conscience. 

8.  Prescriptions  and  proscrip- 
tions with  a  view  to  a  moral  pur- 
pose or  one  reputed  so;  notion  of 
sin,  with  a  sanction  applied  by 
the  authority  of  the  invisible 
world  or  its  representatives. 

9.  Organization  of  worship: 
prayer,  offering,  sacrifice,  rites, 
ceremonies,  symbols,  etc.,  as  an 
expression  of  submission,  thanks- 
giving, or  supplication. 


4.  Same  belief,  with  the  spe- 
cial purpose  of  maliciously^  win- 
ning the  influence  and  activity  of 
the  spirits. 

5.  Same  belief,  with  the  same 
purpose  of  employing  and  com- 
pelling its  services. 

6.  Same  belief,  with  the  same 
purpose  as  above. 

7.  Remains  outside  the  preoc- 
cupations of  magic,  which  aims 
only  at  the  utilization  of  the  in- 
visible forces. 


8.  Prescriptions  and  proscrip- 
tions with  a  view  to  the  utilita- 
rian purpose  to  be  attained. 


9.  Magical  organization,  with 
practices  of  a  liturgical  charac- 
ter, generally  occult,  bizarre,  im- 
moral, or  cruel. 


CONCLUSIONS  307 

Religion  Magic 

10.  Priesthood,    at   first   repre-  10.  Isolated  magicians  or  sor- 
eented  by  the  head  of  the  family,  cerers ;  organized  secret  societies, 
then  by  ancients  or  priests  espe-  with  initiation,   ordeals,   ceremo- 
cially    charged   with    the    sacred  nial,  occult  rites,  degrees,  etc. 
functions,  then  by  an  organized 

body. 

11.  Distinction  between  the  11.  Same  distinction,  but  re- 
profane  and  the  sacred,  and  af-  lating  only  to  the  things  of 
fecting   persons,    places,    objects,     magic. 

words,  etc. 

12.  Establishment  and  organi-  12.  The  individual,  secretly 
zation  of  the  family,  as  religious  initiated  in  the  magical  beliefs 
and  social  center,  seeking  to  con-  and  practices.  Totemic  alliances 
serve  the  purity  of  its  blood,  im-  relating  to  the  family. 

posing  laws  on  itself,  distinguish- 
ing itself  by  special  marks,  and 
strengthening  itseK  by  alliances. 

Perhaps  this  list  might  be  lengthened  to  the  extent  of  a 
few  additional  articles;  but  we  would  not  be  justified  in  sup- 
pressing anything  in  it.  All  of  these  elements,  in  fact,  are 
common  to  all  religions  and  all  magics,  of  all  times  and  all 
peoples. 

'No  one  of  the  numerous  investigators  who  have  treated  the 
matter  of  primitive  religions,  at  least  to  our  knowledge,  has 
thought  to  group  them  in  this  way;  but  we  find  them  pointed 
out  and  recognized  at  the  period  of  dispersion  by  all,  and  we 
think  that  no  one  can  seriously  question  them. 

The  same  question  again  presents  itself  to  us,  but  this  time 
more  precise  and  more  clearly  circumscribed:  whence  come 
these  essential  and  fundamental  elements  in  primitive  human- 
ity? 

Whatever  be  the  explanations  furnished  as  to  the  origin  of 
religions,  they  all  come  to  one  of  these  answers:  that  these 
primary  elements,  observed  in  humanity  prior  to  all  history, 
either  have  been  revealed  to  it  by  a  supernatural  intervention 
or  are  the  spontaneous  product  of  the  human  spirit  which,  as 
it  is  everywhere  the  same,  has  everywhere  foi-med  the  same 
religious  conceptions.  Or  else,  admitting  these  two  natural 
and  supernatural  forces,  we  make  them  cooperative  so  that,  far 


308  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

from  excluding  each  other,  they  wonderfully  unite  in  a  neces- 
sary accord:  the  human  spirit  acting  in  the  fulness  of  the 
faculties  that  have  been  given  it,  and  divine  Providence  enlight- 
ening, fortifying,  sustaining,  and  directing  it  in  the  course 
of  the  ages,  directly  or  indirectly,  despite  all  the  sources  of 
trouble,  error,  and  perversion  that  surround  it. 

The  materialists  and  with  them  all  who  dislike  to  meet  the 
supernatural  on  their  road,  are  necessarily  bound  to  the  second 
hypothesis. 

Spiritualists  have  more  liberty,  and  with  the  spiritualists 
the  Christians.  For  no  one  of  the  three  hypotheses  mentioned 
is  forbidden  them,  not  even  the  one  which  takes  no  account 
of  divine  revelation.  According  to  the  Bible,  which  they  would 
like  to  have  become  involved  in  this  question,  the  first  couple 
was  supernaturally  enlightened  on  the  subject  of  its  duties,  and 
probably  their  first  children  had  their  share  of  that  revelation. 
By  the  same  authority  we  are  informed  that  the  original  fall 
obscured  not  only  their  intellect  and  conscience,  but  the  intel- 
lect and  conscience  of  their  descendants;  we  know  they  were 
scattered  over  the  earth,  which  became  hostile  to  their  labor; 
we  can  suppose  their  first  tribal  aggTcgations,  doubtless  during 
long  ages,  were  not  more  elevated  in  civilization  than  the  most 
primitive  men  of  to-day.  It  is  with  these  ancient  and  humble 
human  strata,  traces  of  which  are  from  time  to  time  brought 
to  light,  that  religious  evolution  must  have  begun. 

Furthermore,  the  traditionalist  and  fideist  school,  which 
restricted  the  power  of  human  reason  in  the  conquest  of  truth 
and  ended  by  placing  certitude  solely  in  the  revealed  word  of 
God,  has  been  condemned  by  the  Church,  which  it  pretended  to 
serve. 

In  this  matter  the  most  orthodox  Catholic  has  an  open  field 
before  him.  Under  the  favor  of  this  liberty  Abbe  Bros,  in  his 
book  already  referred  to,  thought  he  must  ask  of  psychology 
alone  the  explanation  of  the  origin  of  "the  religion  of  non- 
civilized  peoples." 

"Putting  aside  revealed  religion  whose  origin,  reported  in 
our  sacred  books,  is  quite  different,"  he  writes,  "all  the  forms 


CONCLUSIONS  309 

of  religious  activity,  imperfect  or  coherent,  are  the  product  of 
emotions,  of  collective  or  individual  feelings,  of  social  states 
that  explain  them  and  whose  history  we  can  trace.  All  of 
them  express  the  way  that  humanity,  abandoned  to  its  own 
powers,  according  to  its  greater  or  lesser  capacity,  in  the  differ- 
ent circumstances  of  time,  place,  and  culture,  has  found  to 
answer  the  insatiable  aspiration  to  the  divine  which  it  feels  ever 
living  in  its  very  depths."  ^^ 

Developing  these  ideas.  Abbe  Bros  at  the  end  of  his  interest- 
ing work  adds  the  following  considerations,  which  strengthen 
those  positions. 

The  savage,  endowed  with  reason,  is  aware  of  the  need  of 
living,  at  the  same  time  that  he  recognizes  obstacles  which 
hinder  the  satisfaction  of  that  need.  Death,  with  its  pre- 
cursor, pain,  is  met  at  every  step  he  takes  in  the  world;  the 
mystery  of  the  world,  its  crushing  force  and  visible  immensity 
fill  him  with  terror. 

But  by  a  profound  instinct  man  feels  that  he  can  do  some- 
thing to  save  himself,  and  the  conception  he  forms  of  the  world 
gives  to  this  vouloir-vivre  an  altogether  religious  orientation. 
Pondering  on  beings  and  things,  he  projects  his  own  personality 
upon  them.  Thus  he  animates  all  the  forces  of  nature,  and  for 
him  everything  becomes  living. 

But  if  these  beings  are  like  unto  men,  they  are,  like  men, 
accessible  to  presents,  to  gifts  in  food  and  clothing,  to  delicate 
attentions,  to  prayer.  Religion  is  born.  The  necessity,  joined 
to  the  anthropomorphic  conception  of  the  universe,  has  begotten 
it  solely.  Man  had  need  of  warding  oft'  pains  and  death,  of 
acquiring  what  is  useful.  Religion  gives  him  the  certitude  of 
attaining  these  two  ends. 

However,  the  savage  does  not  live  isolated :  his  social  instinct 
urges  him  to  join  in  common  his  dangers  and  hopes,  emotions, 
habits,  and  consequently  his  religion,  which  becomes  better 
organized,  more  enduring,  more  intense  and  thus  assumes  the 
character  of  a  social  institution. 

Reason,  with  its  need  of  explaining  and  classifying  is  heard 
and,  no  less  than  the  instinct  of  sociability,  influences  the  devel- 

"Bros,  op  cit.,  p.  11. 


310  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

opment  of  religion.    Wlieiice  comes  death  ?    What  is  the  origin 
of  the  world  ?     Whither  goes  the  spirit  of  the  dead  ?    Whence 
come  the  gods  ?    To  these  questions  the  savages  reply  by  invent- 
ing religions  stories  and  by  forming  myths. 
Thus, 

"Necessity  of  living,  anthropomorphic  conception  of  the 
universe,  social  instinct,  need  of  explaining  and  putting  in 
order,  such  are  the  psychological  elements  of  which  the  religion 
of  the  savages  is  composed.  Under  the  form  of  myths,  of  wor- 
ship, or  of  feelings,  the  consequences  of  these  principles  are 
diversified  in  time  and  space.  Adapting  themselves  to  the 
environment,  incorporating  themselves  in  a  race,  progressing 
with  time,  these  diverse  instincts  have  here  and  there  found 
outlet  in  different  manifestations.  Each  of  them  has  not  always 
had  the  same  relative  importance  in  a  particular  country  or 
at  a  particular  period.  But  they  have  existed  everywhere  and 
it  is  only  by  taking  account  of  the  progress  of  the  sum 
total,  as  of  the  proportional  or  relative  development  of  each 
of  them,  that  we  can  explain  the  religion  of  any  particular 
savages."  ^^ 

As  Reville  says,  the  only  factor  that  could  well  explain  the 
genesis  of  religions  and  most  of  their  common  traits,  if  not  all, 
would  be  "the  unity  of  the  human  spirit  striving  to  solve  the 
same  questions  with  the  same  elements  out  of  which  to  make 
their  solutions."  ^^ 

To  these  reasons  must  be  added  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
taking  a  primitive  revelation  as  the  starting  point. 

"This  explanation  is  to-day  ordinarily  rejected,"  says  Abbe 
Bros,  "first  because  of  the  improbable  faithfulness  of  memory 
that  it  supposes  in  these  decayed  races.  We  know  that  in  the 
sixteenth  century  the  Blacks  of  Congo  included  ten  million 
Christian  souls;  when  we  see  that  nothing  has  remained  of 
Catholic  beliefs  among  the  present  natives,  we  can  not  help 
concluding  that  they  must  have  been  no  less  forgetful  of  the 

"  Bros,  op.  cit.,  p.  313. 

^^R^ville,  Proleg.  de  I'hist.  des  religions ,  p.  71. 


CONCLUSIONS  311 

more  ancient  teacliings.^^  On  the  otlier  hand,  if  some  similari- 
ties exist  between  certain  of  our  beliefs  and  those  of  savage 
peoples,  they  are  not  numerous  nor  of  great  importance.  It 
often  happens  that  some  of  their  legends  partly  resemble  cer- 
tain accounts  that  are  dear  to  us,  but  might  that  not  be  a 
simple  coincidence,  the  spontaneous  creation  of  the  human 
spirit?  And  if  we  saw  in  the  conservation  of  these  recollec- 
tions an  intervention  of  Providence,  we  would  be  no  less  em- 
barrassed. We  could  not  well  understand  why,  for  example, 
the  account  of  the  deluge  would  alone  have  survived  in  the 
memory  of  men,  while  its  importance  and  dogmatic  sigiiificance 
do  not  at  all  appear  to  them  and  are  even  subject  to  discussion 
among  Catholic  exegetes.  On  the  contrary,  the  essential  insti- 
tutions which  the  savages  have  in  common,  possess  little  con- 
nection with  the  primitive  religion.  Totemism,  for  instance, 
which  is  the  most  widespread  of  religious  customs  among  savage 
peoples,  can  not  have  any  Biblical  origin ;  w^e  are,  then,  forced 
to  shift  the  problem  to  another  ground,  and  to  ask  other 
explanations  for  these  analogies."  ^^ 

In  referring  to  this  question,  Father  Prat  says : 

"The  fact  of  a  primitive  revelation  is  in  no  way  an  unreason- 
able supposition;  we  unhesitatingly  admit  it  on  the  authority 
of  our  Sacred  Scriptures.  But  it  is  now  so  remote  from  us  in 
time  that  it  may  have  become  obscured  or  even  quite  obliter- 
ated. It  is  doukful  whether  any  evident  traces  of  it  can  still 
be  found  in  this  human  world  of  ours,  a  world  more  ancient 
than  we  have  hitherto  been  inclined  to  believe.  Should  there 
still  be  some  vestiges  of  such  a  revelation,  how  are  we  to-day 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  spontaneous  product  of  man's 
spirit?"  3^ 

In  the  presence  of  these  declarations,  if  Keville  still  lived, 
perhaps  he  w^ould  hesitate  to  write  that  Catholics  base  their 

^  This  figure  of  ten  millions  has  always  been  considered  as  greatly  exag- 
gerated. Most  of  these  Christians  were  such  only  by  their  baptism:  as  they 
had  no  instruction,  it  was  easy  for  tliem  to  forget  their  Christianity.  Tlie 
relatively  small  number  of  real  Christians,  on  the  other  hand,  has  been  well 
maintained  until  our  own  day  without  priests,  notably  in  Arabaca  (near 
Loango),  where  the  Blacks  have  handed  down  religious  teaching  and 
writing. 

"  Bros,  op.  cit.,  p.  7. 

^'Prat.  S.  J.,  La  Science  de  la  religion  et  la  science  du  langage. 


312  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

stand  in  this  matter  on  the  reality  of  a  primitive  revelation 
because,  "guided  by  a  visible  theological  interest,  they  hope 
thus  to  lay  the  foundation  stone  on  which  later  to  erect 
the  dogma  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church."  ^^  We  note,  in 
passing,  that  the  dogma  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church  has 
no  pertinence  in  the  present  question.  If  Eeville  can  not  resolve 
to  accept  the  hypothesis  in  question,  it  is  because  of  its  improb- 
ability vrhen  compared  with  all  we  know  of  the  distant  past  of 
our  species  and  of  the  wretched  state  in  which  it  has  lived, 
without  considering,  he  says,  that  Genesis  is  concerned  only  with 
a  rather  limited  group  of  peoples  who  can  trace  their  origin 
to  the  three  sons  of  ISToe,  namely  Sem,  Ham,  and  Japheth.^^ 

Must  we  accept  these  conclusions  as  the  only  ones  that  are 
"scientific,"  reasonable,  tenable  ? 

Despite  the  proofs  employed  to  support  these  conclusions, 
proofs  which  we  have  reproduced  to  the  best  of  our  ability, 
many  will  agTee  that,  at  any  rate,  the  discussion  is  far  from 
being  closed. 

1.  Let  us  begin  by  answering  the  chief  concern  of  Eeville. 
"The  hypothesis  of  a  primitive  revelation  of  religious  truth," 
he  says,  "clashes  with  the  totality  of  all  we  know  about  the 
extremely  uncultured  and  pitiable  state  of  humanity  prior  to 
history."  ^^  That  is  an  illusion  common  to  all  those  who  make 
evolution,  and  evolution  magnified  according  to  their  fashion, 
into  a  dogma  whose  authority  must  rule  every  question  in  all 
its  details.  In  accordance  with  this  principle,  the  religious 
development  of  a  people  must  necessarily  be  parallel  to  its 
social,  political,  literary,  artistic,  and  other  development.  If, 
then,  mankind  has  been  in  a  state  of  wretched  external  civiliza- 
tion at  a  given  moment,  which  may  include  several  centuries, 
wretched  also  must  have  been  its  religion. 

The  answer  is  before  our  very  e^^es. 

The  wretchedness  of  the  first  men  does  not  seem  to  have  been 

"R^ville,  Proleg.  de  Vhist.  des  rellglMis,  p.  51. 

^ Ihid.,  p.  67.  Popular  tradition  which  regarda  Cham  (Ham)  as  the 
father  of  the  black  race,  is  nowhere  taught  in  the  Bible.  The  Hamitic 
peoples  spoken  of  in  Genesis,  ch.  10,  are  not  the  negroes. 

'^Ihid.,  p.  57. 


CONCLUSIONS  313 

iQ^er — no  matter  how  low  it  is  put — than  that  of  our  present 
Pygmies.  But  it  is  clearly  proved  that  these  poor  people, 
though  in  a  very  low  social  state,  have  religious  and  moral  ideas 
relatively  pure,  doubtless  very  simple,  but  free  from  many 
superstitious  encumbrances;  and  they  are  consequently  found 
to  be  superior  not  only  to  the  black  populations  in  whose  midst 
they  are  scattered,  but  even  superior  to  the  Greeks  and  Komans 
of  the  ''best  periods,''  however  unlikely  the  assertion  may 
appear.  In  fact,  religion  and  morality  are  one  thing,  and  a 
very  different  thing  are  wealth,  industry,  art,  science,  and  what 
we  have  come  to  call  "civilization."  The  simple  but  pure  reli- 
gious elements  which  we  have  found  constitute  the  universal  and 
common  foundations  of  early  religion  everywhere,  can  be  per- 
fectly well  conceived  in  men  deprived  of  the  material  improve- 
ments that  progress  has  later  brought  to  life.^^ 

2.  What  influences  Abbe  Bros  is  the  improbability  that  poor 
savages  would  possess  the  retentive  memory  necessary  to  retain 
the  lessons  of  divine  revelation  during  an  unlimited  number  of 
centuries.  Granted.  But  have  we  not  fallen  into  an  improb- 
able anthropomorphism  when  we  represent  revelation  thus  ?  We 
would  seem  to  argne  that  to  instruct  the  first  men,  God  had  to 
deliver  a  series  of  conferences  under  the  banana  trees  of  Eden, 
then,  after  finishing  the  lesson,  return  to  heaven  with  his 
catechism  under  his  arm. 

Let  us  be  serious.  St.  Paul  states  the  matter  otherwise. 
God,  who,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners,  spolce  in 
times  past  to  the  fathers  hy  the  prophets,  last  of  all,  in  tJiese 
days  hath  spohen  to  us  hy  his  Son,  (Heb.  1 :1.)  It  is,  then,  in 
several  parts,  in  numerous  fragments,  and  in  "divers  man- 
ners" (implying  articulate  words,  visions,  dreams,  inspirations, 
interior  illumination,  and  natural  lights  fortified  and  directed) 
that  the  revelation  or  rather  the  revelations  have  been  made,  not 
only  to  the  direct  ancestors  of  the  Hebrew  people,  but  to  all 
the  children  of  Adam  and  Eve  who  had  a  soul  to  save,  so 
that  all  had  the  necessary  means  at  least  to  attain  their  salva- 


'iior 


»'  The  same  remark  might  be  made  concerning  the  Jewish  people,  siipei 
to  all  others  from  the  religious  point  of  view,  inferior  to  many  from  all 
other  points  of  view. 


314  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIYES 

tion;  for  it  is  certain  that  God  wills  the  salvation  of  all 
men. 

We  must  add  that  none  among  the  elementary  gifts  of  primi- 
tive religion  and  morality  appears  in  itself  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  human  reason  and  conscience.  It  would  be  sufficient  if  this 
reason  and  this  conscience  had  been  maintained  and  directed 
by  ordinary  supernatural  help  in  all  "men  of  good  will." 

Moreover,  there  can  be  no  question  here  of  lessons  trans- 
mitted by  a  faithful  and  uninterrupted  tradition.  The  truth 
is  that  from  the  beginning  these  primary  elements  of  religion 
and  morality  seem  to  have  been,  as  it  were,  deposited  and 
socialized  in  an  institution  so  general,  so  simple,  so  necessary, 
and  so  natural  that  the  human  race  truly  exists  only  by  that 
institution :  I  mean  the  family.  The  primitive  family,  receiving 
these  elements,  assimilated  them  to  such  an  extent  that  it  seems 
as  if  it  could  not  have  maintained  itself  without  them  and  they 
could  not  have  been  maintained  without  it.  These  elements  are 
its  internal  sap.  Wherever  it  has  sent  forth  its  shoots,  this  sap 
has  made  them  live  and  multiply  even  to  our  own  day.  It  is  true 
that  parasites  appeared  and  covered  the  human  plant  with  their 
growths,  their  leaves,  and  their  flowers,  hiding  it  from  the 
eyes  of  the  passer-by,  sucking  its  life,  and  almost  stifling  it  under 
their  weight.  The  totems  belong  to  these  parasites,  so  do  also 
many  taboos,  initiations,  superstitions,  and  myths,  in  short 
everything  connected  with  mythology,  magic,  and  their  inspira- 
tions. But  the  primitive  tree  ever  remained,  living  on  even  with 
impoverished  sap.  This  tree  we  have  tried  to  disclose  to  our 
readers. 

3.  We  are  told  that,  "if  analogies  exist  between  certain  of  our 
beliefs  and  those  of  savage  peoples,  they  are  neither  numerous 
nor  important."  ]^ot  numerous  ?  We  have  pointed  out  a  dozen, 
and  no  doubt  it  would  be  possible  to  indicate  still  more.  'Not 
important?  They  are  the  very  basis  of  all  existing  moralities 
and  religions.  The  religions  of  uncivilized  peoples  are  in  a 
state  of  confusion  which  may  be  lacking  in  the  precise  theo- 
logical knowledge  of  the  authors  who  have  studied  them,  as 
Spencer,  Tylor,  Frazer,  Kialle,  and  so  many  others;  they  may 
even  lack  the  purpose  intended  by  them.     All  this  has  caused 


CONCLUSIONS  315 

us  to  mistake  their  myths,  legends,  superstitions,  and  their 
magical  proceedings  for  the  religion  of  these  populations,  all 
that  which  is,  in  short,  the  counterfeit  only  or  defoi-mation  of 
religion.  Consider  these,  if  you  wish,  the  spontaneous  product 
of  the  human  spirit,  which  has  so  often  gone  astray  in  bizarre 
vagaries,  in  extravagant  conceptions,  in  ridiculous,  obscene,  or 
cruel  practices.  But  besides  all  that,  there  are  very  pure  and 
beautiful  gifts  scattered  everywhere,  as  we  have  shown,  which 
constitute  religion. 

4.  Abbe  Bros  confides  to  us  "that  he  would  feel  embarrassed 
in  attributing  to  a  special  act  of  Providence  the  conservation 
of  these  memories,  whose  importance  and  dogmatic  significance 
is  by  no  means  evident."  And  by  way  of  example  he  cites  the 
deluge,  recollections  of  which  are  found  in  many  countries. 
We  are  heartily  of  the  same  opinion  concerning  the  deluge  and 
traditions  of  that  sort:  no  special  interest  for  man's  salvation 
is  attached  to  their  conservation.  But  we  are  sure  he  would 
be  the  first  to  agTee  that  this  can  not  be  said  of  the  primary 
elements  of  religion  we  have  cited.  The  explanation  for  the 
error  here  is  that  we  too  readily  rely  upon  the  scholars  already 
mentioned  to  form  for  us  an  exact  and  complete  idea  of  primi- 
tive religious  beliefs.  Certainly  these  scholars  have  discoursed 
long  and  brilliantly  on  myths,  taboos,  totems,  naturism,  fetich- 
ism,  animism,  and  the  little  episodes  inspired  by  them,  all 
secondary  matters.  But,  while  doing  this,  they  have  completely 
forgotten  to  give  conspicuous  place  to  what  precisely  consti- 
tutes the  essential  institutions :  the  general  organization  of  the 
family,  the  belief  in  God,  the  foundations  of  morality,  the  sur- 
vival of  the  human  soul,  the  idea  of  the  beyond,  worship  by 
prayer  and  sacrifice.  And  these  institutions  are  so  closely 
related  to  the  primitive  religion  and  to  all  religions  that  they 
form  their  necessary  basis. 

None  of  the  objections  offered  against  "the  hypothesis  of  reve- 
lation" holds  against  the  facts  in  the  case,  facts  that  are  certain 
and  easy  to  verify. 

We  wish  to  say  at  once  that  assuredly  the  weakness  of  these 
reasons  can  not  be  made  over  into  positive  proofs,  and  we  have 


316  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVES 

no  idea  of  adding  that  the  reality  of  revelation  is  henceforth 
historically  demonstrated  merely  by  the  history  of  religions. 
We  will  see  to  it  that  we  do  not  fall  into  this  other  kind  of  excess. 
Eevelation  is  proved  otherwise  and  by  other  means :  Catholic 
theology  devotes  an  entire  section  to  the  question,  which  forms 
the  basis  of  her  teaching.^^ 

All  we  wish  to  say  here  is  that  perhaps  we  have  been  too 
hasty  in  reproaching  the  missionaries  ^'for  having  sought  to 
make  factitious  resemblances  between  the  great  modern  reli- 
gions and  the  conceptions  of  the  savage." 

On  the  contrary,  so  little  does  this  inquiry  for  resemblances 
appear  to  us  as  vain  and  useless,  that  a  real  interest  is  attached 
to  its  prudent  and  attentive  pursuit. 

Will  the  legitimacy  of  this  inquiry  be  contested  because  its 
conclusions  accord  with  Christian  tradition  ?  Is  this  the  reason 
why  we  can  not  be  ^'scientific"  ?  On  the  contrary,  we  think 
that  the  human  mind  has  a  right  to  search  for  the  truth,  wher- 
ever the  truth  may  be  found,  even  if  it  offends  the  partisanship 
of  adversaries. 

Let  us  continue  our  examination. 

1.  It  is  an  accepted  fact  that,  so  far  as  can  be  known,  human- 
ity has  never  been  without  religion  or  morality.  But  if  it  were 
true  that  all  religion  and  all  morality  outside  of  Christianity 
have  come  solely  from  the  working  of  the  spirit,  there  would 
have  been  a  period  when  the- human  species,  at  its  various  places 
of  habitation,  would  have  been  deprived  of  all  religious  and 
moral  ideas,  ^precisely  those  qualities  by  reason  of  which  man 
is  man.  At  any  rate  it  seems  difficult  to  admit  that  this  state 
of  "non-religion"  and  "non-morality"  has  been  general  in  man- 
kind at  any  given  epoch  of  history ;  nothing  proves  that  it  has 
been  so,  and  everything  leads  us  to  believe,  on  the  contrary,  that 
it  was  otherwise. 

2.  On  this  supposition,  we  would  have  to  hold  that  at  most 
diverse  and  distant  spots  on  the  globe  all  the  human  aggrega- 
tions have  agreed,  by  a  natural  use  of  their  powers,  on  what  con- 

"  See  Tanquerey,  De  vera  religione.  The  author  gives  an  abundant  bibli- 
ography (ed.  1901,  p.  19). 


CONCLUSIONS  317 

stitutes  the  primary  and  essential  elements  of  all  religion  and 
all  morality. 

If  it  happened  by  chance,  this  extraordinary  agreement  would 
only  show  that  chance  is  sometimes  so  intelligent  that  it  would 
be  proper  to  call  it  by  another  name. 

Were  we  to  suppose  that  philosophers,  scholars,  and  other 
intellectuals  had  met  together  at  the  beginning  of  time  in  a 
sort  of  plenary  assembly  to  lay  the  foundations  of  future  civili- 
zations, we  could  easily  and  surely  conjecture,  judging  from  the 
deliberative  assemblies  of  to-day,  that  they  would  scarcely  agree 
on  the  twelve  essential  points  which  we  have  indicated  above. 
How  much  more  extraordinary  to  find  such  tacit  agreement 
among  human  aggregations  some  of  which  have  remained  at  the 
banks  of  the  Euphrates  while  others  wander  in  the  forests  of 
equatorial  Africa,  others  at  the  gate  of  the  Andes,  and  still 
others,  in  their  frail  '^pirogues,''  touch  the  oceanic  islands  one 
after  the  other ! 

3.  If  it  is  true  that  none  of  the  primary  gifts  of  religion  is 
beyond  the  acquisition  of  man's  reason,  nevertheless  experience 
teaches  us  that  it  is  very  difficult  for  him  to  acquire  an  assem- 
blage of  truths  sufficiently  coherent  to  serve  as  a  durable  basis 
for  the  family,  society,  religion,  morality,  and  everything  con- 
nected therewith:  in  these  essential  matters  we  have  need  of 
aid.  If  God  made  the  first  men,  it  seems  strange  that  He  has 
not  come  to  their  aid  and  that,  having  given  them  the  religious 
faculty.  He  did  not  give  it  its  proper  stimnlus.  So,  at  least, 
have  thought  all  the  sages  of  antiquity,  from  Herodotus, 
Sophocles,  and  Plato  down  to  Cicero  and  Virgil,  from  the 
chants  of  the  Vedas  to  the  first  philosophers  of  China.^^  Divme 
revelation  would  thus  have  completed  and  guaranteed  natural 
religion  and  natural  law,  which  man  can  create  for  himself  by 
the  sole  forces  of  his  spirit  but  which  it  is  extremely  difficult 
for  him  to  establish  in  detail  and  preserve  from  impure  mix- 
tures. 

4.  Experience  also  shows  us  that  ''belief,  like  life,  is  trans- 
mitted from  the  living  to  the  living.''  ^^     Although  we  find  no 

*^  Victor  Rondet,  Les  initiations;  la  religion. 
*^Ilid. 


1 


318  THE  EELIGIOl^  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

systematic  instruction  organized  among  savage  populations,  yet 
instruction  is  imparted  by  institutions,  ceremonies,  and  facts. 
But  even  that  presupposes  a  beginning.  Thus  we  are  always 
forced  to  return  to  the  necessity  of  a  primitive  teaching,  pre- 
served in  some  way  or  other  through  the  long  succession  of  past 
ages  and  in  the  extremely  varied  conditions  which  human  popu- 
lations have  undergone. 

6.  This  idea  naturally  leads  to  another  which  it  seems 
essential  to  point  out,  even  though  we  be  accused  of  departing 
from  the  platform  on  which  this  study  has  been  conducted. 

In  spite  of  the  rHisi'^^ii^  P^^p^  active  in  man,  in  spite  of  the 
egortsji£Jus_reason,  even  despite  the  liMihood_of_a_j)rimiti^^^ 
revelation,  it  seems  as  if  the  religious  beliefs  of  the  races  would 
havTmorTor  less  quickly  disappeared  before  a  growing  indif- 
ference, the  necessities  of  life,  the  ardor  of  earthly  joys,  and 
preoccupations  of  every  sort,  unless  extraordinary,  marvelous, 
and  supernatural  manifestations  from  time  to  time  had  come 
to  reawaken  and  nourish  his  faith. 

Undoubtedly  illusion  and  fraud  play  an  enormous  part  in  the 
interpretation  of  certain  strange  facts  which  both  primitive  and 
civilized  peoples  are  frequently  called  upon  to  witness.  But 
this  is  no  reason  for  refusing,  with  prejudice  and  once  for  all, 
to  examine  facts  of  that  kind  which  come  to  our  knowledge. 
Nothing  is  less  reasonable  than  systematic  incredulity. 

Suppose  there  is  a  place  where  such  phenomena  as  the  follow- 
ing are  observed,  under  an  influence  said  to  be  supernatural: 
^'Broken  bones  that  are  reunited,  caries  that  stops  festering  and 
disappears,  injured  lungs  that  become  suddenly  and  perma- 
nently sound,  lupus  of  the  face  that  heals,  gaping  holes  that 
close;  children,  women,  young  men,  men  of  advanced  years, 
workmen  and  men  of  the  middle  classes,  sick  poor  and  well-to- 
do  sick,  all  conditions,  all  ages,  all  diseases  are  helped"  "^^  by  this 
prodigious  influence.  The  crowds  who  see  these  marvels  with 
their  own  eyes  and  touch  them  with  their  hands  will  feel  their 
beliefs  exalted.  But  that  is  what  has  been  seen  and  what  can 
still  be  seen. 

On  the  other  hand,  occur  the  phenomena  of  telepathy  and 

*•  Bertrin,  Histoire  oritique  de  Lourdea. 


CONCLUSIONS  319 

spiritism,  tlie  evocation  of  the  dead,  levitation,  "envoutements," 
conjurations,  possessions,  the  mysteries  of  sorcery  and  magic, 
which,  explain  them  as  you  like,  are  not  seriously  disputed  by 
any  one.  They  are  observed  in  Europe  and  America  in  the 
twentieth  century  among  the  most  enlightened  populations, 
under  the  vigilance  of  well  known  scholars,  in  India  and  China, 
in  the  depths  of  most  savage  Africa,  as  formerly  in  Egypt, 
Chaldea,  and  all  the  ancient  world.  I^  us_conc£de-the_gr£at:-- 
est  possible  part  in  these  matters  to  human_simplicity,  tp__the 
imaginatToii^'and  to  jugglery :  It" will  still  l^ejtru^tliat  a  large 
number  of  authentic"  phenomena  jremain^^^w^^ 
Natural  explanation  Eas^een^^^^^^^  These  last  manifesta- 

tions, from  the  remotest  times  up  to  our  own,  taking  place  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  the  primitives  by  the  action  of  their  sorcerers, 
maintain  their  faith  in  magic  and  its  mysteries.  In  a  history 
of  religion,  it  is  necessary  to  notice  this  factor,  under  penalty 
otherwise  of  wilful  rejection  of  pertinent  material.^^ 

We  finally  arrive  at  this  general  conclusion. X  In  this  great 
question  as  it  presents  itself  to  us,  the  human  species  migrated 
from  the  original  spot  where  it  first  appeared,  at  a  period  which 
science  is  powerless  to  determine  in  a  precise  manner.  There 
had  been  put  into  its  possession  a  fund  of  religious  and  moral 
truths,  with  the  elements  of  a  worship,  the  whole  rooted  in  the 
very  nature  of  man,  and  there  conserved  along  with  the  family, 
developing  with  society.  Each  race  according  to  its  particular 
mentalities,  its  intellectual  tendency,  and  the  special  conditions 
of  its  life,  gradually  established  those  superficially  varied  but 
fundamentally  identical  forms  that  we  call  religions.  Every- 
where and  from  the  beginning,  there  were  attached  to  these  reli- 
gions, myths,  superstitions,  and  magics  which  vitiated  aiid  dis- 
figured them,  arid  turned  them  from  their  object.  X 

**This  idea  is  developed  with  spirit  and  courage  by  Andrew  Lang  in  his 
work,  The  Making  of  Religion.  The  authority  of  this  scholar  is  uni- 
versally recognized;  but  as  his  observations  were  very  inconvenient,  his 
book  has  been  treated  with  significant  silence.  See  also:  C.  Godard, 
L'oocultisme  contemporain;  L.  Bertrand,  L'ocoultisme  ancien  et  moderne. 


/- 


320  THE  RELIGItm  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

VI.     Christianity  in  the  Pkesence  of  Human  Keligions 

Up  to  this  point,  conformably  to  our  program,  we  have  kept 
ourselves  in  the  domain  of  observed  facts ;  and  v^e  have  avoided 
introducing,  except  occasionally,  the  Christian  and  Catholic 
religion.  According  to  the  loudly  proclaimed  declarations  of  her 
adversaries,  this  inquiry  must  turn  against  her.  The  study  of 
primitive  religions  would  show,  they  said,  that  Christianity 
there  finds  its  origin  and  its  explanation :  that  it  is  a  repetition 
of  these  ancient  formulas,  organized,  systematized,  perfected, 
and  disciplined  so  as  to  be  adapted  to  the  higher  civilization  of 
the  peoples  it  had  conquered  and  who  live  by  it. 

The  moment  has  come  for  the  accused  to  take  the  stand  and 
for  us  to  ask  whether  she  has  anything  to  say  in  reply. 

Yes,  she  will  answer. 

For  it  turns  out  that  this  inquiry  which  was  to  have  con- 
founded her,  does  her  a  wonderful  service. 

The  Christian  religion,  or  more  precisely  the  Catholic,  that 
is  universal^  religion,  calls  itself  by  this  name,  not  only  because 
it  addresses  all  men  actually  on  earth,  not  only  because  it 
counts  on  sending  forth  its  appeal  to  all  those  who  are  yet  to 
come  until  the  end,  but  also  because  it  fixes  the  date  of  its  birtli 
at  the  very  birth  of  the  human  race.  Thus,  along  with  afiirming 
that  the  first  man  was  ^^Catholic,''  it  hopes  that  the  last  one 
will  be  so. 

This  idea  is  not  new.  We  find  it  in  one  of  the  first  of  the 
most  ancient  Catholic  writers,  Hermas  who,  in  his  'Pastor,'' 
represents  the  Church  as  an  aged  woman  already  covered  with 
wrinkles,  because  her  age  is  that  of  the  world,  and  because  her 
head  bears  upon  it  the  marks  of  all  the  centuries  of  humanitv's 
life.^5 

St.  Augustine  in  a  well  known  text  says : 

''What  is  now  called  the  Christian  religion,  existed  among 
the  ancients,  and  was  not  absent  from  the  beginning  of  the 
human  race  even  until  Christ  came  in  the  flesh:  from  which 

*"Prunier,  Evolution  et  immutahilite  de  la  doctrine  religieuse  dans 
VEglise. 


CONCLUSIONS  321 

time  the  true  religion,  already  long  in  existence,  began  to  be 
called  Christian.'^  ^« 

^^As  regards  the  substance  of  the  articles  of  faith,"  says  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas,  ^'they  have  not  received  any  increase  as  time 
went  on:  since  v^hatever  those  who  lived  later  have  believed, 
was  contained,  albeit  implicitly,  in  the  faith  of  those  Fathers 
who  preceded  them.  All  the  articles  of  faith  are  contained 
implicitly  in  certain  primary  matters  of  faith,  such  as  God's 
existence,  and  His  providence  over  the  salvation  of  man.  .  .  . 
The  existence  of  God  includes  all  that  we  believe  to  exist  in 
God  eternally,  and  in  these  our  happiness  consists ;  while  belief 
in  His  providence  includes  all  those  things  which  God  dispenses 
in  time,  for  man's  salvation,  and  which  are  the  way  to  that 
happiness."  ^'^ 

This  is  why  Tanquerey,  in  his  widely  appreciated  theological 
treatise,  sums  up  this  doctrine  in  the  following  words :  "Primi- 
tive religion  does  not  substantially  differ  from  the  Christian 
religion."  ^^ 

Max  Miiller,  taking  his  point  of  view  from  the  study  of 
comparative  religions,  states  his  conclusion  in  these  words : 

"Of  religion,  too,  as  of  language,  it  may  be  said  that  in  it 
everything  new  is  old,  and  everything  old  is  new,  and  that  there 
has  been  no  entirely  new  religion  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world."  *» 

Religion  is  essentially  a  "bond"  between  God  and  man,  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth,  between  the  supernatural  and  nature. 
But  if  humanity  has  a  vital  interest  in  the  maintenance  of 
these  mystical  relations,  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  God,  on  his 
part,  can  not  abandon  man  without  denying  his  Providence. 

From  the  beginning,  the  ancestors  of  the  human  race  have  had  I 
a  knowledge  of  the  Divinity  and  of  methods  to  maintain  the 
necessary  communications  with  Him :  these  beliefs  and  elemen- 
tary practices  in  their  sum  total  may  be  considered   as  thej 
equivalent  of  the  twelve  that  we  have  drawn  up.    But  to  thwart 

*•  St.  Augustine,  Ret,  I,  13.  I 

*^St.  Thomas,  Summa  Theol.     English  Translation.     2a,  2ae,  q.  1,  art.  7. 
**  Tanquerey,  op.  oit.,  p.  281. 
•Max  Miiller,  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,  I,  p.  x. 


322  THE  EELIGIOJSr  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

magic,  "which  has  always  been  lying  in  wait  for  religion  so  as  to 
turn  it  aside  from  its  object,  religion,  watched  over  from  on 
high  in  order  that  it  might  retain  its  original  purity,  was  finally 
entrusted  to  a  family,  that  became  a  tribe  and  then  a  people, 
until  the  day  when  the  Word,  acting  in  the  world  as  the  regu- 
lator of  truth  \6yos  airepfxaTiKos,  as  St.  Justin  says,  became 
incarnate  among  us  and  established  religion  as  a  special  and 
permanent  institution. 

Thus  from  the  time  of  Abraham  and  in  his  family,  we  see 
"El"  take  or  retake  the  significance  of  a  sole  God,  powerful, 
just,  and  supremely  moral. ^^  The  sacred  functions  are  exer- 
cised by  the  head  of  the  family  or  the  head  of  the  tribe.  The 
law  or  custom  is  published  as  the  expression  of  the  divine  will ; 
the  notion  of  pure  and  impure  things,  i.e.,  things  permitted  and 
things  forbidden,  occupies  an  important  place  in  their  minds. 
Sin  calls  for  a  sanction. 

Why  has  the  sacrifice  held  the  place  of  importance  given  to 
it?  Because  it  is  considered  the  natural  and  indispensable 
means  of  communicating  with  God,  whether  to  recognize  His 
sovereign  dominion,  or  to  ask  and  obtain  pardon  for  faults  com- 
mitted, or  to  thank  Him  for  favors  received,  or  to  ask  for  new 
graces.  There  is  implied  in  it,  also,  the  idea  of  concluding  or 
renewing  an  alliance. 

Parallel  with  this,  we  perceive  traces  of  magical  practices 
filtering  into  this  primitive  religion,  undoubtedly  from  more  or 
less  vitiated  surroundings:  the  bull,  by  its  strength  an  image 
of  the  Divinity;  totemistic  practices  that  make  the  divine 
alliance  sink  to  an  animistic  alliance  by  means  of  living  ani- 
mals ;  or  the  teraphim,  that  seem  to  be  domestic  fetiches  with  a 
human  form. 

All  that  has  been  pointed  out,  as  more  or  less  apparent  among 
our  primitives:  and  they  have  not  shaken  off  these  things.  As 
is  quite  natural,  pure,  elevated,  and  moral  ideas  have  grown 
weak  among  them,  almost  at  times  to  the  point  of  disappear- 
ance, while  the  invasion  of  magical  beliefs  and  practices  has 
become  more  and  more  evident. 

""  See  Dufourcq,  Histoire  compa/ree  dei  religions  pa'icnncs  et  de  la  re- 
ligion juive. 


CONCLUSIONS  323 

With  Moses,  the  tradition  of  Abraham,  exposed  always  to  the 
deleterious  influences  of  Chaldea,  Egypt,  and  Canaan,  becomes 
more  precise  and  begins  to  develop.  The  figure  of  God,  when 
liberated,  appears  simple  and  glorious;  and  Jahveh  becomes  j 
thenceforth  the  master  and  patron  of  a  chosen  people :  "That  is 
for  Israel,  not  only  the  sustenance  of  its  faith  and  the  founda- 
tion of  its  confidence,  but  also  the  guarantee  of  its  future  salva- 
tion/' ^^  The  natural  law  is  codified  in  the  Decalogue.  The  old 
liturgical  practices,  ablutions,  fumigations,  libations,  and  proces- 
sions, become  purified  and  sanctified  by  the  fact  that  they  are 
related  to  the  worship  of  God  alone;  a  new  spirit  transfigures 
them. 

The  same  is  true  of  circumcision,  which  marked  the  removal 
of  the  prohibition  in  regard  to  marriage  and  the  termination  of 
the  initiation  of  youth ;  henceforth  it  will  be  the  mark  by  which 
every  son  of  Israel  will  be  consecrated  to  God  and  will  reproduce 
life  under  pure  conditions.  The  same  with  the  Sabbath:  in 
Babylonia  it  was  an  unlucky  day,  in  Judea  it  will  be  the  day 
consecrated  to  God  by  prayer  and  rest. 

To  prevent  idolatry,  which  was  ever  threatening  to  reappear 
in  the  tribe,  and  yet  to  meet  the  constant  desire  to  have  God 
in  their  midst,  the  holy  ark  is  constructed,  where  the  presence  of 
Jahveh  will  be  manifested.  About  this  movable  sanctuary,  the 
worship  is  organized,  with  the  priesthood. 

In  turn  the  Judges,  Kings,  and  Prophets  maintain,  develop, 
and  restore  the  Mosaic  tradition,  sustaining  the  people  in  their 
trials,  punishing  them  when  they  stray,  recalling  them  to  their 
duties,  defending  them  against  the  contagion  of  idolatry,  magic, 
and  immorality.  At  Jerusalem,  the  holy  city,  the  worship 
receives  an  ampler  solemnity,  and  as  time  passes,  the  more 
majestic  does  God's  transcendence  appear. 

We  come  at  length  to  the  time  when  the  Word,  who  presided 
over  this  evolution,  protecting  it  against  impure  elements,  crys- 
tallizes it  in  what  is  called  Christianity,  no  longer  to  be  con- 
fided henceforth  to  the  family,  nor  to  the  tribe,  nor  to  the  head 
of  the  people,  nor  to  a  sacerdotal  body  organized  here  and 

•^Valeton  (in  Chantepie  de  la  Saussaye,  Manual  of  the  Science  of 
Religion), 


f 


324  THE  KEMGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

there,  but  to  that  special,  living,  conquering,  and  universal  so- 
ciety which  is  called  the  Catholic  Church. 

Unfortunately  this  evolution  did  not  draw  within  itself  the 
totality  of  the  religious  elements.  At  a  period  impossible  to 
determine,  a  double  current  set  in  among  these  elements.  While 
the  primordial  beliefs  lived  and  developed,  so  to  speak,  in  the 
direct  line,  under  the  influence  of  a  supernatural  and  progres- 
sive illumination,  these  same  elements,  sojourning  with  numer- 
ous other  fragments  of  the  human  family,  underwent  a  deforma- 
tion and  received  additions  under  which  they  almost  disap- 
peared.   Thus, 

"among  the  peoples  where  the  primitive  religion  degenerated," 
writes  Abbe  de  Broglie,  "the  religious  instincts  naturally  and 
spontaneously  created  forms  and  institutions  partially  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  mankind,  imperfectly  satisfying  some  lofty 
aspirations,  and  lending  themselves  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
passions.  Great  men  appeared  who  felt  the  insufficiency  and 
corruption  of  the  existing  forms  of  worship  and  created  new 
ones,  making  use  of  ancient  traditions  but  also  relying  on 
man's  reason  and  conscience  and  religious  instincts  which  their 
genius  had  divined.  These  imperfect  works  have  always  been 
more  or  less  mingled  with  imposture,  as  communication  with 
heaven  is  the  only  means  of  obtaining  men's  confidence  in 
religious  matters.  They  contained  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil. 
Oftentimes  they  include  a  rough  sketch  of  what  God  is  to  do 
later  on;  but  these  elements  of  a  true  religion  are  found 
isolated,  scattered,  opposed  to  one  another,  powerless  for  good, 
without  strength  or  stability.  The  sublimest  notions  are  sud- 
denly transformed  into  gross  superstitions:  the  loftiest  ideal 
often  becomes,  by  a  sort  of  mystical  fermentation,  a  base  and 
sensual  doctrine."  ^^ 

"There  is  no  true  religion,"  said  ^Napoleon  with  his  genial 
common  sense,  "but  that  which  begins  with  the  world  and  con- 
tinues during  the  course  of  the  ages." 

The  true  religion  indeed  must  be  universal.  It  is,  then,  the 
universal  religion,  the  gist  of  the  beliefs  of  all  times,  that  we 
should  try  to  discover. 

"De  Broglie,  Histoire  des  religions,  p.  310. 


CONCLUSIONS  325 

This  work  we  have  undertaken.  And  we  saw  that  the  reli- 
gious elements  found  at  the  very  origins  of  humanity,  which 
develop,  or  if  you  like,  evolve  regularly  and  always  in  the  same 
direction,  in  eodem  scilicet  dogmate,  eodem  sensu,  eadem  sen- 
tential in  spite  of  countless  obstacles  that  might  have  turned 
them  aside,  on  from  the  remotest  times  to  Christ,  and  from 
Christ  to  the  present  day,  are  identified  throughout  that  long 
journey  with  the  only  Catholic  Religion,  i.e.,  with  the  only 
universal  religion,  i.  e.,  with  the  only  true  religion. 

At  its  side,  as  the  human  families  dispersed  over  the  habit- 
able earth,  the  primitive  religious  notions  attached  themselves 
to  their  rudimentary  social  organizations,  burdening  themselves 
with  adventitious  creations,  legends,  myths,  superstitions,  and 
magical  practices,  in  which  we  recognize  the  work  of  the  human 
imagination,  sometimes  guided  perhaps  by  those  occult  powers 
in  which  these  earlier  men  always  believed  and  which  form  the 
various  states  of  naturism,  animism,  fetichism,  and  shamanism 
of  the  savage  populations. 

At  the  different  epochs  when  the  great  ancient  civilizations 
flourished  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  the 
Nile,  the  Ganges,  the  Blue  River,  or  the  Tiber,  as  the  basis 
are  found  the  same  traditions,  but  they  are  now  covered  over 
with  new  elements  the  more  complicated  as  the  imagination  of 
the  people  was  more  cultivated  and  more  active. 

Meanwhile,  from  the  wombs  of  these  civilizations  in  labor, 
came  forth,  as  products  of  a  mystical  fermentation,  those  ex- 
traordinary men  to  whom  history  has  given  the  title  of  "found- 
ers" of  religions.  But  in  reality  religion  has  no  founders  among 
men.  Those  who  bear  this  title  worked  upon  preexisting  el(^- 
ments;  they  are  reformers,  reorganizers,  or  even  makers  of 
schisms,  and  they  are  the  first  to  declare  that  religion  is  anterior 
to  them.  Such  were  Zarat-houstra  or  Zoroaster  for  Mazdaism, 
Sakya-Muni  for  Buddhism,  Lao-Tseu  for  Taoism,  Khung-Fu- 
Tseu  or  Confucius  for  the  old  reformed  or  deformed  Chinese 
religion,  Mohammed  for  Islam. 

All  these  religions  in  different  degrees  contain  portions  of 
the  primitive  truth  and  insofar  they  are  "catholic."  But  the 
Catholic  religion  alone  shows  that  vitality  which  is  both  immu- 


326  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

table  and  progressive,  extending  to  all  times  and  places;  and 
this  is  why  the  eye  of  the  believer  sees  therein  the  directive 
action  of  the  Spirit  that  lives  in  it,  that  guards  it,  that  sanctifies 
it.  What  distinguishes  the  other  religions,  belongs  properly  to 
them,  but  the  rest  is  hers.  It  is  the  common  heritage  that  she 
holds  in  its  entirety  from  the  heavenly  Father  and  she  is  happy 
to  find  fragments  of  this  common  heritage  scattered  under  all 
latitudes,  in  all  ages,  in  all  civilizations,  and  in  all  races. 

She  has  often  been  called  "proud  and  intolerant" :  "Outside 
the  Church,  no  salvation." 

She  answers:  "Granted.  But  where  are  the  limits  of  the 
Church,  and  what  man  will  determine  them?  God  alone  per- 
ceives them  in  the  depths  of  the  human  soul,  and  this  is  why 
He  alone  can  be  her  judge." 

In  short,  the  Catholic  religion  emerges  from  this  inquiry  in 
triumph. 

She  alone  can  give  the  explanation  of  all  the  problems  that 
arise  in  the  history  of  comparative  religions ;  and  where,  for  lack 
of  documents,  proof  is  impossible,  her  solutions  appear  to 
unprejudiced  minds  as  the  simplest,  the  most  reasonable,  and 
the  most  probable. 

Far  from  being  an  embarrassment  to  her,  the  resemblances 
observed  between  beliefs,  morals,  forms  of  worship,  and  reli- 
gious organizations  form  an  additional  title  in  her  favor. 

By  way  of  a  general  conclusion,  based  on  the  recapitulation 
that  we  have  just  sketched,  we  can  formulate  this  alternative: 

Either  the  human  species  has  received  the  fundamental  bases 
of  the  universal  religion  as  a  deposit  by  a  supernatural  inter- 
vention ; 

Or  the  human  species  is  imperceptibly  led  toward  these  fun- 
damental bases  by  an  irresistible  inclination  that  is  connatural 
with  it. 

In  either  case,  the  human  species,  in  its  general  make-up,  is 
essentially  religious  and  fundamentally  Catholic. 

This  conclusion  permits  us  to  return  to  the  provisional  divi- 
sion of  religions  that  we  proposed  above.    In  dividing  religions 


CONCLUSIONS  327 

into  two  groups  (deistic  and  animo-deistic),  we  meant  to  em- 
phasize the  preponderance  given  in  one  group  to  the  idea  and 
the  worship  of  God,  and  in  the  other  to  the  idea  and  worship  of 
the  spirits  or  manes. 

But  we  possess  data  now  that  enable  us  to  propose  a  more 
precise  and  more  correct  division. 

In  reality  there  is  only  one  religion,  there  has  never  been 
but  one,  and  there  never  will  be  but  one;  there  can  never  be 
but  one. 

Its  elements  include  all  that  is  true,  just,  and  good  in  the 
various  religious  forms  of  the  world,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
magical,  mythological,  superstitious,  or  simply  useless  alloys. 
She  alone  has  an  origin  coeval  with  the  origin  of  humanity. 
The  others  (i.e.,  religions)  can  almost  certainly  trace  their  for- 
mation to  the  action  of  a  man,  philosopher,  prophet,  or  reformer, 
or  else  to  the  action  of  a  period,  a  political  or  sacerdotal  group, 
a  school,  or  even  a  race;  but  that  one  true  religion  goes  as  far 
back  as  the  human  species  itself. 

She  alone  from  the  remotest  times  down  to  to-day  has  with- 
stood all  the  forces  of  disintegration  and  ruin,  all  the  shafts  of 
criticism  and  science,  all  indifference,  passions,  attacks,  hatreds, 
tyrannies,  and  corruptions. 

She  alone  has  been  able  to  adapt  herself  to  the  most  varied 
civilizations,  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  highest,  to  all  coun- 
tries, all  climates,  all  races,  all  political  forms,  all  intellects,  all 
consciences. 

She  alone  fully  answers  the  needs  of  the  mind  and  heart, 
pointing  man  to  a  line  of  conduct,  an  end,  a  destiny  that  makes 
life  intelligible  and  really  w^orth  being  lived. 

Will  you  say  that  her  proof  is  not  convincing  ? 

We  answer  with  Pascal :  this  proof  is  presented  with  sufficient 
clearness  to  satisfy  the  reason  in  its  legitimate  exigencies,  but  it 
remains  sufficiently  veiled  to  make  faith  meritorious.  It  can 
not  be  otherwise  with  a  religion  coming  from  God  and  address- 
ing free  man,  obliged  to  cooperate  in  his  own  salvation. 

But  this  religion,  having  natural  religion  for  its  base,  is 
necessarily  universal  or  catholic  and  is  identified  with  integral 

CHKISTIAi^ITY. 


328  THE  EELIGION  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 

Hence  we  present  this  more  exact  division  of  religions : 

1.  The  Uistiversal  or  Catholic  Keligioi^; 

2.  The  Particulae  Keligions^  which  borrow  their  name 
either  from  their  founder,  as  Buddhism,  or  from  their  special 
characteristic,  as  Islam,  or  from  the  country  or  people  where 
they  are  especially  spread,  as  the  Chaldean,  Greek,  Etruscan, 
or  Latin  religion. 

Under  the  African  equator  it  often  happens  that  the  sun,  ris- 
ing at  the  horizon  as  if  by  a  sudden  leap,  illumines  with  its 
brightness  the  whole  expanse  of  sky  and  earth.  Then,  as  it 
ascends,  mists,  in  long  trains,  slowly  rise  from  the  swamps, 
follow  along  the  great  water  courses,  hang  over  the  forests,  and 
cover  the  plains.  The  great  orb,  however,  continuing  its  course, 
lights  up  the  summit  of  the  mountain  for  the  traveler  seated 
there. 

'Now,  behold  the  world  stretches  before  him  like  an  immense 
sheet  of  mist,  its  surface  like  the  quiet  gray  of  a  limitless  ocean. 
Here  and  there,  in  islands  or  islets,  emerge  groups  of  trees 
and  the  tops  of  hills,  while  the  depths  of  the  valley  rest  in 
thicker  obscurity. 

Yet  at  none  of  these  points  is  it  night :  day  is  upon  the  land. 

Everywhere  dispersed,  some  in  the  full  light,  others  in  the 
semi-darkness,  still  others  in  the  dense  mist,  insects  and  birds 
instinctively  turn  toward  the  sun,  some  bathing  in  its  bright- 
ness, others  scarcely  perceiving  it,  still  others  merely  suspect- 
ing its  presence,  each  guiding  itself  as  best  it  can,  and  waiting. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  gTeat  sun  of  religious  truth. 

When  it  rose  upon  the  horizon  of  our  race  at  daybreak,  every- 
thing was  illumined  by  its  light. 

Alas!  the  mists  came,  and  often  generations  of  men  had 
gropingly  and  timidly  to  seek  this  road.  The  sun,  however, 
has  not  ceased  to  shine,  seen  from  the  mountain  where  the 
Catholic  Church  has  been  seated  since  the  beginning  of  the 
ages.  From  there  it  scatters  its  rays  in  the  immense  expanse : 
men  do  not  everywhere  clearly  see  it,  but  yet  they  can  say  that 
it  is  nowhere  absent.  And  little  by  little  the  mist  dissolves  and 
the  light  spreads. 


CONCLUSIONS 


329 


Let  us  wait,  let  us  hope,  let  us  work.  A  day  will  come  per- 
haps, when  men  then  living,  escaped  from  the  deceptive  vapors 
in  which  their  fathers  have  sadly  and  painfully  walked,  will  at 
last  he  able  to  raise  their  heads  towards  a  cloudless  sky,  and 
the  sun  will  shine  for  all ! 


GOD  in  the  Bantu  Languages  {Equatorial  Africa) 

This  table,  founded  on  data  furnished  by  Father  Sacleux,  C.S.Sp., 
shows : 

1.  The  original  and  identical  sense  of  the  name  of  God  in  a  great 
number  of  Bantu  languages. 

2.  The  wide  diffusion  of  this  word,  since  it  extends  from  Zanzibar 
to  Fernando  Po,  from  the  Victoria  Nyanza  to  the  Herero  country, 
from  Natal  to  Gabon. 

We  beg  to  recall  that  in  the  Bantu  languages  the  noun  is  composed 
of  an  invariable  radical  and  a  variable  prefix  that  determines  its 
meaning  and  agreement. 

From  the  primitive  words 

ULTJ  (Kamba),  high,  elevated,  heaven,  and  ILTJ  (Mbundu),  heaven; 
lYU  (Swahili  of  Amu),  on  high,  and  YU  (cf.  Fan  YO),  same 
meaning,  come  the  following  derivatives: 

M — ulu 
Om — uru 
Mu — uro 
Li — ulu 
I — ulu 
E — ulu 
Di — ulu 
Lu — ulu 
Li — ilu 
W—ilu 
L — ilu 
Mte — ulu 
Y — ulu 
I — dj — ulu 
E — yuru 
I — yulu 
E — guru 
N — guru 
N — gulu 
N—kol 
I — gulu 
E — gulu 
Lu — gulu 
Dji — kulu 
I — Jcu 


(Bemba) 

heaven 

(Herero) 

heaven 

(Lunda) 

heaven 

(Kimbundu) 

on  high 

(Luba) 

heaven 

(Kwanyama) 

heaven 

(Luba) 

heaven 

(Nywema) 

on  high 

(Kote) 

heaven 

(Luyi) 

heaven 

(Ngangela) 

heaven 

(Makua) 

on  high 

(Tege) 

heaven 

(Tonga) 

heaven 

(Herero) 

heaven 

(Subiya) 

heaven 

(Ganda) 

heaven 

(Nyungwe) 

firmament 

(Zigua) 

mountain 

(Fan) 

hill 

(Karagwe) 

heaven,  on  high 

(Ganda) 

heaven,  on  high 

(Sumbwa) 

on  high 

(Kota) 

heaven 

(Mbuti) 

heaven.    Etc. 

330 


THE  EELiaiON  OF  THE  PEIMITIVES 


From  wliicli: 

Mii^-gulu 

(Tabwa) 

God,  literally 
Mu  (he)  and  gulu 
(of  heaven) 

Mu — hum 

(Herero) 

God,   literally,   he 
from  on  high 

Kuru 

(Temne) 

God,  literally  The 
High 
id. 

Goru 

(Bubi) 

Nkulu-NJculu 

(Zulu) 

God,  literally  The 
Very  High 

And  the  following  derivatives: 

Dyu  and  Dyuu 

(Swahili) 

on  high 

Dyo 

(Fan) 

heaven 

Dzu 

(Nzuani) 

on  high 

uu 

(Pokomo) 

on  high 

Ku — dzuru 

(Nyungwe) 

on  high 

Dzulu 

(Nika) 

heaven,  on  high 

Nzulu 

(Sena) 

in  the  air 

U — dzulu 

(Makua) 

on  high 

I — dzulu 

(Tusi) 

on  high 

E — dzulu 

(Congo) 

heaven 

Zulu 

(Tebele) 

heaven 

Di — Zulu 

(Sorongo) 

heaven 

I — yu(h)u 

(Rega) 

heaven 

Ru — {w)e{h)u 

(Tchaga) 

heaven 

I — guu  or  Igu 

(Nyamwezi) 

on  high 

Ku — guu 

(Teita) 

on  high,  the  high 

U — iw)i(n)gu 

(Swahili) 

heaven 

Yu — {w)i{n)gu 

(Pokomo) 

heaven 

Hw — i{n)go 

(Kamba) 

cloud 

Hu — u{n)gu 

(Kikuyu) 
From  which: 

cloud.     Etc. 

M — ngu 

(Swahili) 

God,  literally  the 
heavenly 

M — ungu 

(Swahili,  etc.) 

he  of  the  heaven 

Mu — ungu 

(Pokomo) 

he  from  on  high 

Mu — lungu 

(Swahili) 

id. 

M — lungu 

(Teita,  etc.) 

Mu — rungu 

(Rundi) 

M — pungu 

(Guha) 

Mu — luhu,  M — luho 

(Makua) 

Euku 

(Nyaneka) 

SuJcu 

(Mbundu) 

INDEX 


Africa,  its  population,  240,  242 

Depopulation  of,  235 
American  Indians,  241 

Religion  of,  267 

Totemism  among,  85 
Amulet,  179,  218 
Ancient  civilizations,  269-281 
Animism,  54,  177,  262 

and  naturism,  43-46 

as  origin  of  religion,  22 

not  religion  of  primitives,  300 

Summary  of,  22-24 
Anthropophagy,    101,    167-169,   208, 

231-233 
Asia,  cradle  of  humanity,  239 

Primitive  religions  in,  268 
Atheism;  see  God 

Bantus,  Language  of,  52  and  passim 

Morality  among,  142-172 

Name,  type,  abode,  27 
Beliefs,  Religious,  90-131 
Bible  not  involved,  46,  294,  308 
Blessings,  200 
Burial;  see  Funeral 

Cannibalism;  see  Anthropophagy 
Catholic  religion,  325 
Cemeteries,  190 
Ceremonies,  Religious,  190-215 

See  Funeral,  Initiation,  Worship 
Charmers,  219 

Chiefs,  Political  and  religious,   185 
Children  and  taboos,  152 

Exploitation  of,  69 

Illegitimate,  155 
China,  270,  274 
Christianity    and    human    religions, 

320-328 
Circumcision,  155,  255 
Communion,  214,  231 
Comparative  religions;    see  History 

of  religions 
Confession,   163-165 
Conjurers,  219 

Dances,  198 
Death,  97,  159 


Death,  Anniversary  of,   101 

Vengeance  after,  227 
Depopulation,  171,  235 
Diviners,  219 
Divorce,  68 
Doctrine;  see  Belief 
Dogma,  element  of  religion,  34 

Egypt,  94,  270,  274 
Envofltement,  33,  230 
Europe,  Primitive  religion  in,  268 
Evolution  and  morality,  134 

and  religion,  40-43 

as  origin  of  religion,  16 
Exogamy,  70-73 

Family,  62-89,  244,  254 

and  religion,  88,  278 

and  the  individual,  69,  83 

and  totemism,  87 

Importance  of  the,  63-64 

strengthened  by  alliances,  80 
Feasts,  Organization  of,  194 
Fetich  and  totem,  74 

Avenging,  229 

Definition  of,  178 
Fetiches,  Family,  192 

Living,  193 
Fetichism,  44,  178 

and  religion,  299 
Forgiveness  of  sins,  163-165 
Funerals,  97-102,  104,  269 

Genii,  112 

See  Spirits 
God,  Abode  of,  123 

and  magic,  121 

Belief  regarding,  113-130 

Duties  to,  143 

Existence  of,  290 

Idea  of,  57-59,  193,  248,  261 

among  tlie  most  primitive,  125 

in  ancient  Egypt,  274 

in  the  Niger  Delta,  274 

Origin  of  the,  127 

in  Bantu  languages,  115-119,  329 

Little  apparent  worship  of,  128 


331 


332 


INDEX 


God,  Nature  of,  124 

No  image  of,  121,  193 

not  blasphemed,  122 

Offerings  to,  193,  202 

remains  in  background,  194 

What  He  is,  127-128 

What  He  is  not,  124,  126 

Sacrifice  to,  210 
Groves,  Sacred,   193 

Healers,  219 

History  of  religions,  Aim  of,  2 

and  Catholics,  9-11 

and  Protestants,  8 

Founders  of,  4 

Incompetency  in,  19-21 

Our  method,  24-31,  35-37 

Precursors  of,  2-4 

Prejudice  in,  12-19 

Present  tendencies  in,  12-24 

Sources,  29-30 
Holidays,  194 
Human  races,  239-244 
Human  sacrifice,  208,  231,  233 
Human  species,  Unity  of,  287 
Hymns,  198 

Idolatry,  122,  299 
Immortality,  107 
India,  270 

Infanticide,  138,  153 
Initiation  of  youth,  40,  154-157,  221 
in  secret  societies,  221 

Justice,  Sense  of,  basis  of  morality, 
136-138 

Languages,  Bantu,  52 

showing  idea  of  God,  115-119, 

329 
showing  idea  of  nature,  52 
showing  idea  of  spirits,  109-110 
showing  idea  of  the  soul,  92-93 

Law,  Natural,  142 
Positive,  143 

Legend,  30 

Liturgy;  see  Ceremonies,  Worship 

Magic,  60,  216-237 
and  God,  121 
and  morality,  223 
and  religion,  31-35,  280,  306 
and  sacrifice,  231 
and  science,  219 
and  the  family,  220 
and  worship,  174 
Natural,  218-224 
not  religion,  298 


Magic,  religion  and  mythology,  216- 
218 

Social  effect  of,  235 

Supernatural,  224-237 

Universality  of,  279 
Manes,  109,  190 

Belief  regarding,  102-108 

Offerings  to,  202 

Sacrifice  to,  209 
Manism,  91,  181 

as  origin  of  religion,  21 
Marriage,  69,  157,  254 

and  divorce,  158 

taboos,  158 
Matriarchate,  68 
Metensomatosis,  56 
Missions    (Catholic)    and   morality, 

169 
Modesty,  160 
Monogamy,  67,  254 
Morality  and  evolution,   134-135 

and  magic,  223 

and  religion,     34,     139-142,     145, 
150,  170,  283,  291 

Basis  of,  134-139 

Definition  of,  132-134 

in  the  family,  71 

Mistaken  applications  of,  138 

"No  universal  morality,"  134-135 

of  the  Bantus,  142-172 

of  the  primitives,  132-172 
Mother,  Love  of,  66 
Mourning;   see  Funeral 
Mutilations,  Ethnic,  199,  266 
Mythology,  30 

and  religion,  216-217 

as  origin  of  religion,  22 

not  religion,  298 

religion  and  magic,  216-218 
Myths,  30,  51 

Nature  and  the  supernatural,  48-55 

Master  of,  57-59 

Primitives'  idea  of,  48-61 

The  primitive  and,  38-61 

Visible  and  invisible,  131 
Naturism,  54,  174-178,  262   "^ 

and  animism,  43-46 

as  origin  of  religion,  21 

not  religion  of  the  primitives,  300 

Oceanica,  240 

Offerings  to  God,  193,  202 

to  manes,  202 

to  spirits,  201 
Ordeal,  166 


INDEX 


333 


Parricide,  135,  138 
Patriarchate,  68 
Physician,  183 
Polyandry,   68 
Polygamy,  67,  254 
Possession,  228 
Prayer,  196,  204 
Prehistoric  man,  268-270 
Priesthood,  34,  182-189 
Primitive  and  nature,  38-61 

man  and  existing  savage,  26-29 

promiscuity,  62-70 

religion  and  religion  of  the  prim- 
itives, 302-319 

revelation,  15,  310-316 
Primitives  and  the  family,  62-89 

Are  they  primitive?  282-286 

Bantus,  27 

Conventional  picture  of,  21 

Morality  of,  132-172 

Negrillos  and  Negritos,  26 

Psychology  of,  46-48 

Religion    of,    and    primitive    re- 
ligion, 302-319 

Religions  of,  compared,  238-281 
Promiscuity,  Primitive,  62-70 
Psychology  and  religion,  290 

of  the  primitives,  46-48 
Puberty,  154 
Purifications,  200 

Quaternary  man,  268-270 

Races,  Human,  239-244 

Prehistoric,  268-270 
Religion  and  evolution,  40-43 

and  magic,  31-35,  280,  306 

and  morality,    34,     139-142,    145, 
150,  170,  283,  291 

and  mythology,  216 

and  psychology,  290 

and  science,  25,  292-297 

and  the  family,  88,  254 

and  worship,  173 

Constituent  elements  of,  33-34 

Definition  of,  31-34 

Essential  need  of,  288 

mythology  and  magic,  216-218 

Necessity  of,  291-297 

Obligatory  character  of,  143 

of  primitives,  a  mixture,  39 

and  primitive  religion,   302-319 

Conclusions,  297-302 

Only  one,  327 

Origin  of,  14-16,  21,  75,  298,  303- 
308,  319 

Universality  of,  25 

What  it  is  not,  34 


Religions,  Classification  of,  302 
History  of;  see  History 
Human,  and  Christianity,  320-327, 

328 
Identical  elements  of,  177 
of  primitives  compared,  238-281 
Universality,      permanence,      and 
identity  of,  286 
Religious  instruction,  39 
Revelation,  Primitive,  15,  310-316 

Sacred  and  profane,  149 
Sacrifice  and  magic,  231 

Bloody,  204-207 

Central  act  of  worship,  201 

Human,  208,  231,  233 

Origin  and  aim  of,  211-215 

Principle  of,  59 

to  God,  210 

to  manes,  209 

to  spirits,  209 
Satan,  112 
Science  and  magic,  219 

and  religion,  25,  292-297 
Secret  societies,  186,  220-225,  236 

of  women,  223 
Sexual  promiscuity,  62-70 
Shamanism,  268 
Sin,  159-165 
Slavery,  161 
Social  organization,  64 
Sorcery,  162,  185,  187,  225 

See  Magic 
Soul,  Belief  regarding,  91-102 

Survival  of,  103-108,  167 
Spirits,  Belief  regarding,   108-113 

Evil,  109-112,  140 

Genii,  112 

Nature    of,    according    to    Bantu 
languages,  109 

Off'erings    and    sacrifices    to,    202, 
209 

Ombwiri,  108 

Prince  of.  111 

Tutelary,   108-109 
Sprinkling,  200,  207 
Statuettes,  191 
Suicide,  162 
Supernatural,  Denial  of,  15 

Meaning  of,  32 

Nature  and  the  supernatural,  48- 
55 

phenomena,  318 

world,  32-33 
Superstition,  Modern,  280 

not  religion,  298 
Survival,  103-108,  167 


334 


INDEX 


Taboo,  144-153 

Abuse  of,  151 

and  morality,  170 

and  totemism,  74,  76 

in  interest  of  family  and  society, 
152 

in  Oceanica,  265 

Principle  of,  58 
Talisman,  218 
Tattooing,  155,  199,  266 
Temple-huts,  192-202 
Tomb,  190 

See  Fimeral 
Totem  and  fetich,  74 

and  taboo,  74,  76 

Definition  of,  74 

Individual,   among  American   In- 
dians, 267 

Mgr.  Le  Roy  on  the  Kilimanjaro, 
78 
Totemism,  73-89,  256 

among  American  Indians,  85 


Totemism,  and  sacrifice,  212 
and  tattooing,  212 
as  origin  of  religion,  22,  75 
Definition  of,  87 
not  religion  of  primitives,  300 
Origin  of,  75,  79-82,  86 

Village,  Love  of  the,  65 

Witchcraft;  see  Sorcery 
Woman;   see  Family,  Marriage 
Worship,  173-215 

as  element  of  religion,  34 

and  magic,  174 

and  religion,  173 

Definition  of,  173 

External   manifestations   of,    190- 
215 

Ministers  of,  34,  182-189 

Object  of,  174-181 

of  God,  193 

Organization  of,  182-189 

Places  of,  190,  194 


165 


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